Three for the Fox Boy
by Vesvius
Summary: Three girls all love Naruto. But which one will get him? And will they be able to deal with each other long enough to complete the most important mission ever? R&R please! NaruSaku, NaruTema, NaruKin. Currently on Hiatus.
1. The Three Girls

A/N: Well, this is my second fic. It's going to be a multi-chaptered one. It's also my first step into romance, one of the genres I like the most. Be kind, and R&R!

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98 Strokes, 99 Strokes, 100 Strokes

There. 100 strokes of the hairbrush a day kept her soft pink hair fluffy and manageable. Sakura was certain that her hair needed to be perfect today. Tsunade-sama had told he that she would get a surprise today, and she thought she knew what was coming, or at least what she hoped for.

Sakura closed her eyes, and began to daydream about her Sasuke-kun. Or, that's what part of her thought was coming. She had her Sasuke-kun back. Everything was going back to normal. Sakura ran to the bridge team seven always met at, and saw her dark Sasuke-kun. "Sasuke-kun, would you like to do something today after we're done training?"

Sasuke looked at her, mild disgust in his eyes. "Instead of trying to go on dates, why don't you get stronger." Sakura looked down, disappointed in Sasuke and herself. She should have known that was coming. He hadn't changed at all in the four years he had been gone.

Then, a happy voice from behind he stated "I'll hang out with you, Sakura-chan!" She looked around, and saw Naruto there, his bright blue eyes reflecting his desire to spend time with her. Next thing she knew, he had scooped her up and was pulling her in close…

Sakura snapped out of her daydream. Since when had she thought about Naruto that way? But it was true. Sakura had been thinking about how strong his arms were, how warm his smile was, how safe she felt when he was near… That had to be Tsunade-sama's surprise. Naruto was coming back from his training trips! It had been two years since she had seen him. Smiling, and humming a little tune, Sakura walked over to the Hokage's tower.

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Temari panted hard as she flew across the desert. She was standing on a wooden platform with wheels, using her powerful battle fan to blow across the sands. Temari really didn't know why she was rushing. The Hokage had called her to Konoha many times, but this time seemed different.

It couldn't possibly be what Temari wanted it to be. She wanted it to be Naruto. Temari couldn't remember when she had fallen for him, but it was definite that she had. She had just woken up thinking about him one day, and fell asleep to dream about him. Temari, the desert rose who had never dreamed about any man before, had dreamed about Naruto!

Temari had first me Uzumaki Naruto about 6 years ago, at the Chunnin Exams. She had thought he was a little blowhard. He had been cute though. Later, she had been proven wrong. Not that he wasn't cute. But he had been so much more then a little blowhard. He had been strong enough to defeat her little brother, and beat him so badly he'd been down for days.

He hadn't just defeated Gaara. He'd saved him. If Gaara had continued as he had, he would have killed everyone or been killed. Now, Gaara was a powerful Kazekage, and was actually beginning to develop a sense of Humor.

That hadn't been the last time Temari had seen Naruto. During his training trips, he had often come to Suna to visit Her, Gaara and Kankuro. He and Gaara got along great, with Gaara actually laughing. Naruto and Kankuro played so many pranks, it was a wonder that they had time to sleep. As for Naruto and Temari, had spent the most time together. At first, they had just spoken of Konoha, as Temari was the liaison there. But later, they had just talked, Temari enjoying Naruto's company. She even thought, with a blush, that he enjoyed hers.

Naruto had told her that he was going back to Konoha, and less than a month later, she was being called there. She hoped he would be there. Temari beat her fan harder. She wanted to hold him, kiss him, and love him. Those thoughts spurred her on, and she pulled up in front of the Hokage's tower in minutes.

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Ever since Sound and Leaf had made an alliance, Kin was welcomed everywhere. Everyone wanted the new gadgets and conveniences, such as radios and drums, which Sound brought. But though she had seen and met most everyone in Konoha, Kin just wanted to see Naruto again.

It was thanks to him that she was living. Orochimaru had killed her, and used her life force to reanimate the second Hokage. When the third had sealed the bodies of the Kages, Kin's life force, and that of her friend Zaku, had returned to their bodies. They would have died soon after if Naruto, who had been looking at the spot there the third died, hadn't noticed that they were alive, and given them a chakra transfusion.

Then Naruto had killed Orochimaru, though Sasuke had escaped, claiming the vengeance that Kin had wanted him to. But when she congratulated him, Naruto had just nodded, like it was someone anyone would do. He also added "That bastard deserved it because he hurt you."

That's when Kin had fallen far, and never tried to get back up. She just wanted to spend her life with Naruto, pleasing him and letting him love her. That was why Kin had requested the Konoha duty, to spend time with Naruto. Luckily, Zaku, the new Otokage, had understood, and detailed her to Konoha.

Kin sped up. The Hokage had called her, and Kin couldn't imagine why. It could have something to do with Naruto, but that was probably wishful thinking. But he was due to return anytime now.

As Kin neared the tower, she saw a flash of pink hair. It was Sakura, a local Kunochi who had been on the traitor Sasuke's, and much more importantly in Kin's mind, Naruto's team. Kin would have liked her fine if it wasn't common knowledge that she felt the same way about Naruto as Kin did, though she might not admit it. The thoughts were mirrored in Sakura's mind as she looked at Kin.

A cloud of dust announce Temari's arrival. The dark haired sound ninja and the pink haired leaf ninja both looked at the newly arrived blond sand ninja. They exchanged a three way stare, which they all broke at the same time, and sniffed in unison. They all knew that the other two felt the same way about their favorite whisker-faced shinobi as they themselves did, but they meant to have him. All the villagers ran as they went by the three Kunochis. The townspeople might not know what the root of the problem between Sakura, Temari, and Kin was, but they could sense the tension and wanted no part of it. Blows had been known to be exchanged when the three were in close proximity. But this time, they all just sniffed again and continued into the hokage's tower side by side.

Tsunade looked down and groaned. She wished there was some other way, but all her other ninjas except for Sakura were tied down with missions, so she had to call in favors from Sand and Sound as it was. The fifth Hokage looked through the window at her hand-picked team and shook her head. Maybe they could coexist long enough to get through their mission. And maybe pigs could fly.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Well, that's my first chapter of the first romance fic I've written! Be kind,and please no flames! Read and Review, and I'll post another chapter when I get the time!


	2. The Mission

Tsunade looked at he squad, all three of them still staring anywhere but each other. Quickly, the Hokage inventoried all she knew about the girls. Sakura, she knew the best, and she was usually a rock of common sense and good judgment. Tsunade knew Temari and Kin far less well, except for the fact that they had a huge crush on Naruto. Which was shared by Sakura, whether she admitted it or not. If the three knew that the other two shared their feelings, that would explain the animosity. Tsunade just hoped they could contain it.

"Ok. Listen up." The Hokage said. All three girls stopped looking aimlessly around the room, and stared at the fifth. "I hope the three of you can hold together long enough to finish your upcoming mission." Tsunade help up a hand to halt Temari and Kin, both of whom had opened their mouth to protest. "I know ordinarily I would have know power to give you two missions, but I requested that the Kazekage and the Otokage place you temporarily under my command." She looked at Temari. "Gaara, in particular, was quite emphatic that you take this mission, Temari." Temari shut her mouth, and leaned back in her chair. Kin just sat there.

"Now, the three of you are probably wondering why I'm assigning you to work together." All three of them nodded, but then froze when they saw the others mirroring their action. "Frankly, all of our shinobi except Sakura are on other missions. I had to call in a couple of favors to get you two at all."

Sakura broke in. "Tsunade-sama, I know it is very important that you explain your reasoning, but all ninja have the option to accept or reject any mission. So could you please tell us what it is you hope that we will take?"

"Very well, Sakura." Tsunade said. "This mission was brought to us by Jiraiya." Temari stiffened. She remembered that the last time Naruto had been in Suna, the old perverted toad sennin had been with him. "He arrived about twelve hours ago. Apparently, two days ago, he and Naruto were attacked by missing nins from Mist, Cloud, and Sand. They put up a great fight, killing or disabling over thirty of them, but then they knocked Naruto out and almost killed Jiraiya. Jiraiya managed to use his **Touton no Justu** (Transparent Escape Technique) to get away, but they caught Naruto. Jiraiya came here for help, then passed out."

"Your mission is to rescue Uzumaki Naruto."

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Kin began panting as she ran through the trees alongside sandy and pinky. 'Damn! I'm outta shape!' she thought. 'I really should be doing this kinda stuff more often. I could ask them to slow down, but in the time we take, Naruto-kun could die! I'll just have to deal with it.'

Kin was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost didn't see Sakura and Temari stop. She noticed just in time, and halted as well. Then she saw what had gotten their attention. Three ninjas, one wearing a cloud headband, one with a leaf headband, and one with a sand headband, stood baring their path. All three of their headbands had slashes through the middle, signifying them as missing ninjas.

The one from cloud spoke to the other two. "Ok. Split them up. They're probably less effective in one on one combat." With that, the sand ninja ran at Temari, the leaf at Sakura, and the cloud charged at Kin, effectively breaking up their formation.

Kin cursed. It had been months since she'd had to practice her ninja skills! But she was ready. She drew out some senbon, a few with chakra-treated bells on them. She launched her normal needles, but the cloud ninja dodged them. He then disappeared! Kin dodged to the left as he reappeared behind her and kicked. She threw a bell-enhanced needle at him, and he had no way to dodge. It sunk into his left arm as he teleported away.

She looked around, looking for where he was coming from next. A deep voice from above her yelled "**Ikazuchi Bakuha!" **(Thunder Blast) Two small lightning bolts hit where she'd been standing a minute ago.

Now it was time for Kin's trump card. She began to go through the seals needed. Horse, Ox, Snake. "**Junan Aika no Jutsu**!" (Agony Dirge Technique). The bell on the needle that had sunk into the missing nin's arm began to chime, louder and louder, until it was a powerful noise that shattered the eardrums. Of course it was Genjutsu that only effected the one targeted, but what the mind thought happened to the body actually happened. Kin looked down at the man who was shaking in agony. Mercifully, she drew her kunai.

After her gruesome task was done, and she had retrieved her needle, she looked around. Her fight had taken her far from the others. If she didn't find them, she'd been in deep trouble. Kin sped off into the trees.

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Sakura was getting tired. Who would have thought that this missing nin would be so good? But he was very good, and she could barely keep up. Her green-chakra covered hands missed a vital spot, and his Kunai gave her a scratch on her arm. Before she could win, she had to stop his speed.

Sakura willed her chakra into her hands, and converted it to a different kind. It glowed red, and she threw a left hook at the missing nins head. While he was distracted, her right hand flew at his leg, and touched it. "**Chi Keppei no Jutsu!" **(blood clot technique). He darted away, but the damage had already been done. The missing nin felt his leg go week, and go numb.

Smiling slightly at her success, Sakura decided to explain. "You won't be able to move. I've hit you with my Blood Clot technique. It's usually used to stop people from losing blood, but I've adapted it to cut the circulation out of your leg. You're not going anywhere." Her explanation done, her Chi Keppi connected with his other leg, immobilizing him completely. Her next his took off his head.

As Sakura finished, a dark flash landed next to her. Sakura almost took of its head, but then realized it was Kin. "Awww." The sound ninja groaned. "I was too late to help out!" Sakura smiled. She really would like this girl, if it wasn't for Naruto. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get your chance eventually!" The two exchanged a quick smile before hearing an explosion off in the distance. Realizing they were still missing Temari, Kin and Sakura took off into the trees.

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Another beat of her fan, another tree fell down. But the missing ninja continuously dodged her wind strikes! She recognized him now. Doro, an A class missing ninja from Suna. As his name suggested, he was an expert in earth jutsus. So he would probably be… underground!

Temari leapt from her branch just as a huge spike of mud came for her. She had to develop a strategy, quickly! 'He's underground, making my wind techniques obsolete, and he seems to know where I am! But maybe…'

She dove at the hole just created by the mud spike. Temari jammed her battle fan into the ground, and began to twist it while channeling it full of her chakra. "**Ninpo: Kamaitatchi no Arashi!**" (Ninja Arts: Storm of the Slashing Winds). Her wind blew through the tunnels, knocking Doro into the air.

"You're mine!" she screamed. Another yell of "**Ninpo: Kamaitatchi!**"(Ninja Arts: Slashing Wind) and a heave of her fan, and a deadly gust blew into the missing ninja and knocked him into a tree. For good measure, Temari nailed him with a couple shurikens.

No sooner had she finished then the other two appeared. Panting heavily, Sakura said "You… Ok… Temari?" The sand Kunochi nodded, and the three of them sat down for a minute, allowing Sakura and Kin to recover from their two mile sprint.

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In a dark cavern about ten miles away, Uzumaki Naruto awoke. 'Damn, I'm hungry. And thirsty. And I want to know where the hell I am!' He realized he had screamed the last part out loud.

A shadowy figure walked up to him, and studied him with cold eyes. "You are within my power. That's where you are. I managed to get you away from the old toad man with minimal effort. But you always were dead last."


	3. Torture and Comback

Well, this is my third chapter. Thanks for all who decided that this story was good enough to sign up for alerts. And, just thanks for reading it! R & R as usual, and enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto. If I did, would I be writing Fan Fics?

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"I thought it was you, bastard." Naruto growled. "Though how you ever had enough balls to recruit missing ninjas, ambush me and Ero-sennin, and show your face to me afterwards has been a question I've been meaning to ask you." A punch to his mid section drove the air out of his lungs.

A hand raised, and after making a handseal, conjured a small ball of flames. The crackling fire illuminated the extent of Naruto's injuries, so numerous that even his super human constitution was having trouble. It also showed the once handsome and now battle scarred face of his captor: Uchiha Sasuke.

"Despite your boneheaded way of asking questions, I've been wanting to let you know what you set in motion." Sasuke smirked, an evil light burning feverishly in his eyes. "You see, you killed Orochimaru, I took his corpse. Kabuto and I dissected it, and I learned all of his jutsus. But then the real stroke of luck came. As you can imagine, dissecting corpses is messy work. I happened to have open wounds at the time, and some of Orochimaru's blood entered my body."

Naruto gaped. "Yeah." Sasuke smirked. "Sounds bad, doesn't it? But it was actually one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Sure, I was in a coma for a couple of days, but I got over it. And I had access to Orochimaru's bloodline!"

Inside his head, Naruto was kicking himself. 'Blood, Bloodline! Why didn't anyone else ever think of that?'

Sasuke laughed, the sound harsh and grating on Naruto's ears. "Curious of what the bloodline is? Of course you are." Sasuke made a curious handseal, and suddenly, his neck extended! He opened his mouth, and Naruto glimpsed a pair of sharp fangs, dripping with poison. Sasuke shrank his neck and laughed. "I can suck blood, and even make curse seals!" He laughed again, while Naruto wondered how his best friend could become such a monster.

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About an hour later, Temari stood outside the cave. They knew Naruto was in there. Even is they hadn't heard him screaming twenty minutes ago, the fifty or so missing nins guarding the cave would have been a dead give away. It had been tough for the three of them not to rush in their right away, hearing their love screaming. Luckily, they had held themselves in long enough to come up with a plan. Now, it was time to put it into action.

Temari extended and opened her fan. She left fly with a cry of "**Ninpo: Kamaitatchi!**", and a strong blast of wind shot out. The ninjas scattered, then converged on Temari. In the ensuing battle, no one noticed two small shadows slip into the cave.

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Naruto hung limply from the wall. There had been a couple of large explosions about fifteen minutes ago, and Sasuke had gone to see what the ruckus was about, leaving Naruto chained to the wall. Well, he wasn't complaining. If his body wasn't being torn and mangled, he had a chance to let Kyuubi do his healing.

Suddenly, he heard a gasp. Someone, or someones, was in the room, and they weren't Sasuke. He heard a voice that he recognized. "Kin! Get him down! I've got to prepare for emergency healing!" Sakura and Kin had come to get him. Despite his injuries, Naruto smiled. "Good.. to.. see.. you." He uttered, ignoring the pain that speaking caused.

Kin noticed his agony as she began using her needles to pick the locks on his shackles. "Don't say anything. We'll have you down really fast." She finished the last lock, and Naruto fell down from the wall, landed on his feet, and staggered a little. Kin saw that he was going to fall, and caught him. She pulled his arm over her, and helped him stagger over to Sakura. 'Well.' She thought. 'This wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I wanted him to put his arm around me.

Kin laid Naruto down tenderly, and Sakura knelt beside him. She had been building up her healing chakra since Kin had begun to pick locks, and it was time to use it. The green energy spilled out of her hands and into his bleeding body. Sakura tired long before his wounds healed, but she wouldn't stop if he had the slightest scratch. He needed to be whole. She needed him to be whole. Before she knew it, Naruto was healed and she was low on chakra.

Naruto sat up, feeling sort of groggy, rather like you just woke up. The first thing he was a very eager Kin, who was extremely happy that Naruto was no longer hurt. The second thing he was a very tired Sakura, who had almost passed out. Naruto swept them both up in a bone crunching hug. Being Naruto, he didn't notice how they both blushed, then noticed the other blushing, then glared daggers at each other.

Inside Naruto's head, a very interesting process was going on: thinking. The Hokage had sent these two on a rescue mission. This had been at least a class A mission. A class missions, hell, ANY missions, required a team of three. Sakura and Kin were two. They were missing one person. "Hey, Kin, Sakura. Where's your teammate?" the girls looked at each other, suddenly realizing that they hadn't heard any attacks from Temari for a while. "Well, Temari's outside, creating a diversion. But she should be fine. She's gotten at lot stronger recently and-"

Without thinking, Naruto grabbed Sakura and threw her onto his back. Startled, she wrapped her arms and legs around him. He stood up, picked up Kin, and began to run as fast as possible. Sasuke must have gotten to Temari. There was no other reason that she wouldn't have come down here after destroying the missing nins. Both Kin and Sakura were hoping that Temari was ok, but there was another emotion running through their heads: Joy. Kin was thinking 'He's carrying me! I can't believe it! He's carrying me!' Sakura was feeling similar emotions, except that her thought was 'I always wanted Naruto to give me a piggyback ride!'

With Naruto running at top speed, they reached the cave exit very quickly. A horrific scene greeted them. On the ground lay all the missing ninjas, either injured, dead or dieing. But on a hill, silhouetted by the setting sun, was Uchiha Sasuke holding a body over his head.

Sasuke looked down at the three of them, and laughed that evil laugh, which contained more then a hint of insanity. "So this is the rescue party for the great Uzumaki Naruto. Three scared little girls who know some pathetic tricks.' Sakura whimpered a little without realizing it, recognizing her old crush. "Here is your third slut!" Sasuke growled. "Now you can all die together." Sasuke threw the body in his hand at Naruto, who quickly caught it out of the air. Naruto looked at it for a moment, then slowly carried it back to Sakura. "Heal her. Please." He murmured as he put the body down.

It was indeed Temari, but she was in much worse shape then she had been when they had seen her last. Her clothes were rumpled and torn, with her right sleeve completely gone. A large purple bruise marred the tan skin on her right shoulder, and there were numerous bloody gashes in the rest of her. But the worst wound of all was a huge slash on her forehead. If it weren't for her head protector, she would be dead. As it were, her head protector was gone and there were streaks of blood running down her face. "I will." Sakura said firmly. She swallowed a couple of soldier pills, and prepared for healings. Sakura began her task, green chakra swirling around her as she put her all into helping the Sand Kunoichi.

Naruto turned to Kin. "Guard them." He said simply. The dark-haired sound ninja nodded. "Yes." Naruto turned away, and faced Sasuke, who was still standing in the same spot, a mocking smile on his once handsome face. Acid Green Chakra began swirling around him, as he stared down at Naruto. Red Chakra began swirling around Naruto as he stared back at Sasuke with a gaze that was red and feral.

"**Go get him, Kit.**" Kyuubi said inside Naruto's mind.

"I plan on it." He replied.

With inhuman speed, Naruto and Sasuke charged at each other. Punches, kicks, and the occasional kunai were exchanged, but nothing connected. Sasuke decided to step it up a notch. He leapt back and began going through the familiar handseals. "**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" **(Flame Type: Powerful Fireball Technique). He yelled. An enormous ball of flames shot from his mouth, heading straight for Naruto. But it didn't hit him, as he had moved while Sasuke had been gathering the chakra. From below the Uchiha came the cry of "**Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"** (Shadow Clone Technique). Sasuke looked down and saw five Narutos. He smirked. The only time Naruto ever created only four clones was when he was going to perform the Uzumaki Naruto Rendan. The trick was to take the hit from the four below you, then kill the one in the air. That was always the original, so killing that one killed Naruto.

Sure enough, four clones charged at Sasuke. "U-ZU-MA-KI!" the four yelled as they kicked the Uchiha into the air. Then cane another one, flipping through the air. "NARUTO!" came the cry as it came at Sasuke. He turned in mid air and launched a kunai dead center into Naruto's hear. He connected- and the shadow clone poofed out of existence. Sasuke was shocked. Naruto had actually thought ahead and sent out another clone! But at least he had stopped the-

An explosive pain drove through his back. He looked down and saw another Naruto driving a blue sphere into his back! "RASENGAN!" came the cry. So distracted by the driving pain in his spine, Sasuke didn't notice three more Narutos flipping through the air above him. "RENDAN!" they cried in unison. All three of them drove Sasuke into the ground, then dissipated. Naruto stood over Sasuke. "The Uzumaki Naruto Rasengan Rendan." He explained smugly. "I knew that you remembered my Rendan, so I added a little twist." He noticed Sasuke twitching. "Good. You're still alive."

But then he saw something he had seen once before, and had prayed he would never have to see again. A flash of grey light, and a sense of darkness rising from the ground signaled the fact that Sasuke had tapped into the power of his level two curse seal. But instead of attacking, he took flight. In the unearthly voice he always used in this form, Sasuke said "You've grown. I'll retreat and assess the situation, as well as augment my power from afar. We will meet again, and your power will be mine. Later, dobe." The grey form of Uchiha Sasuke flew away into the dark night.

Naruto stared after him with a mixture of anger and relief. He let his confident façade slip away. In truth, he had been being tortured for two days, and had just used a lot of chakra to heal himself before Sakura had come to help. The Uzumaki Naruto Rasengan Rendan had taken all he had to perform.

He began to stagger. 'Wow. Torture, psychological shock, and trying a new technique in the middle of a battle really drain your stamina.' He thought. Naruto's vision began to fade as he began to fall forward. Suddenly, his fall was stopped by two tan hands. Naruto smiled as he lost conciousness.

Temari held her hero close. She had regained consciousness just in time to see Naruto's final attack. She couldn't help but feel some pride in her love's accomplishments- and some joy in holding him so close. She shot a look over at Kin, who was holding Sakura. The pink-haired medic ninja had expended all of her energy bringing the sand kunoichi back up to full strength. As Temari held Naruto, she felt a sense of joy. She was going to beat the other two, and Naruto would (if he didn't already) love her. Temari glared at Kin, who glared right back. Sakura, barely awake, looked at them both. Inner Sakura was raging. "I just found out I liked him, and I'll be damned if I let you two take him away from me!"

Kyuubi observed this all from within the unconscious Naruto. He chuckled. This was going to get interesting.

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And that was my chapter three. once again, R & R! I'm now taking votes over which of the three you want Naru to end up with, or should it be a harem?  
Next Chapter (already half done): The hospital stay! 


	4. The Hospital and Bloodlines

Well, it's time for chapter four! This is a sorta slow chapter, but it builds up for others. There is also a small amount of humor. I like humor, I'm just not very good at writing it.

About it pairings for this story, It slightly scares me how much people like Harems. I got11 votes for Harem, and the nextclosest was Temari, with Four! I'm probably going to do a Harem in the style of the Wheel of Time books. If you've read them, you know what I mean. If you haven't you should. But if you haven't you'll get what I mean soon enough. Well, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, Haku wouldn't have died.

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_ Haku grinned under his mask. Everything was in place for his most powerful jutsus. He began the hand seals. Haku regretted having to do this, but Zabuza-sama needed the Uchiha boy dead, and this was one of the only ways to do it. "Demonic Ice Mirrors!" The water left by Zabuza-sama's mizu-bushins solidified, and reflected the death of the boy._

_Hyuga Neji looked out through his milky white eyes at the boy with the spiky blonde hair. "You are within the range of my divination." He began to take aim at the tenketsu within Naruto. "Gentle Fist Style: 64 hands of Hakke. Two hands!" Neji connected with two tenketsu. "Four Hands!" he hit two more. "Eight Hands! Sixteen Hands! Thirty Two Hands!" He prepared for his final strike. "Sixty Four Hands!" Naruto went down, all of his tenketsu closed. "It was your destiny to lose to me."_

_Kimimaro withdrew a sword of bone from his back. He was no longer able to serve as a host body for Orochimaru-Sama, but the Uchiha could. He just needed to hold off the Kyuubi vessel long enough for the Uchiha to leave, so he could join Orochimaru. "Dance of the Camellia. Kimimaro stated, the began his dance of death._

With a start and a shock, Naruto woke up. He took a moment to figure out where he w as. As his eyes took in the soft pillows, dark wood, and glowing signs, Naruto realized he was in Konoha Hospital. And, as he heard steady breathing from all around him, and felt warm weight on top of him, he realized that he wasn't alone.

Naruto tried to move his left arm, but something was clinging to it, and greeted his movement with a sleepy sound not unlike that generated by moving a two year olds teddy bear. He attempted to move his right arm, with similar results. Naruto looked up and saw a bunch of pink hair- and the head and boy it was attached to- sleeping on his chest.

He looked to his left, and saw Kin with a death grip on his arm. On Naruto's right, Temari was sleeping soundly while nestled under his arm. And right on top of him, Sakura was curled up. Naruto laid back down, wondering if he had died in that cave, and if he was in heaven.

That happy illusion was shattered a moment later by Shizune opening the door and loudly shouting "Sakura! Are you in here again? Your other patients haven't seen you and-" Shizune caught sight of the scene in front of her, and bit her lip. But she couldn't hold it in for long, and a gale of laughter came bursting out. "I know I told you to keep him warm, but don't you think this is a little over the top!"

The three girls woke up with a start. Sakura looked around, startled. When her eyes settled on Shizune, her cheeks stained crimson, and she began babbling excuses. "Excuse me Shizune-Sama, but I haven't been getting much sleep recently, and I guess when I went to check Naruto-kuns's heartbeat, I just dropped off and-"

Shizune continued her almost hysterical laughter, which was only intensified by Sakura's babbling. But she did manage to get words out. "My, that's an interesting position to be in to check heartbeats! And who's fault is it that you haven't gotten much sleep? After your shift ends, you've been coming here everyday for the past three days! Oh, and since when is it Naruto-KUN?" At this, Sakura's skin color would have been the envy of a tomato.

Temari and Kin were looking at this highly amusing lambasting of their rival, but then Shizune turned her attention to them. "And you two! How long are you going to stay here? I can understand one day, to check on your friend, but after we knew he was going to be fine, shouldn't you have been back on your way to Sand and Sound?"

As Shizune looked around for someone else to yell at, Naruto woke up. Or at least, he appeared to. He was a Ninja after all, and stealth and deception was required. Naruto had sensed Shizune entering, and had quickly feigned sleep. "What's all the noise?" he asked groggily.

Their embarrassment forgotten, Kin, Temari and Sakura all rushed to the bed. Before Naruto knew it, he was locked in an extremely tight group hug. Then it seemed that all of them realized what they were doing, and they all looked away at the same time. Shizune observed all this with a little smirk on her face. It was time to have some fun.

"Back up girls! Now that Naruto is awake, it's time to check him out- I mean give him a check up." Shizune's smirk widened at the glower the other three were directing at her because of her intentional slip. Naruto, as always was completely oblivious.

Shizune decided to have a really good time with this. Ok Naruto, time to take your blood pressure." As she strapped the device on, she 'accidentally' grabbed his bicep. "Wow, that's some muscle you've got there. How often do you work out? How much weight do you use?"

At this, Sakura, Kin and Temari all began reacting. Kin began grinding her teeth. Very loudly grinding her teeth. Without thinking, Temari raised a fist at Shizune's back and began trembling with the force of suppressing her rage. Sakura just stood there calmly, but Inner Sakura was raging. "How dare you touch him? I'll rip your arm off, and shove it up that ass you're shaking at him!"

The three of them exchanged glances. It's then that Temari, Sakura and Kin came to an unspoken agreement. They would fight over Naruto. They would squabble amongst themselves. But they would give each other equal chances with him, and share him given half a chance. And if anyone else touched him, Hell, reached for him or even looked at him with desire in their eyes, they would kick their ass!

Behind the back of the still flirting Shizune, the three had a quick game of rock, paper, scissors. Temari won, and tapped Shizune on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Shizune, there is something I want to talk about with you outside." She said in her politest voice.

"Of course." The unsuspecting medic ninja said. She turned back to Naruto "I'll be back in a minute." Shizune said in a sexy voice.

As Temari took Shizune outside, Sakura added under her breath "No, you won't."

About five minutes later, while Kin was trying to feed Naruto hospital ramen (which even he wouldn't eat), Temari came back and said that Shizune would no longer be a problem. When Sakura asked what had happened, Temari said under her breath, "I kicked the crap out of her, then told her if she didn't stop coming onto Naruto, I would tell Gaara she thinks he's sexy." Sakura shuddered. It was cruel, but Shizune had asked for it.

Oblivious that anything had happened, Naruto asked "Why are you all here? Not that I'm complaining, but I thought that you two would want to go back to Sand and Sound, and aren't you supposed to be working?"

Sakura answered for all of them. "Well, I'm on break now, and these two live here now." Seeing the surprised, quizzical, and somewhat happy look on his face, she elaborated. "The Kazekage, the Otokage, and the Hokage decided it was time to strengthen ties between our villages. They decided to trade Jonin between the three, and we got these two. But now Hinata lives at Sand, and Ten-Ten is enjoying Sound."

And it had been a masters work to get Tsunade to go along with this plan. True, it did strengthen ties between villages, and this had been in the works for a while, but it also was very good for removing outside rivals. It had been simple to get Temari and Kin here. All she had had to do was comment a few times on how good a team they were and how well they got along to secure them. But how she had managed to get rid of Hinata and Ten-Ten, she would never know. Hinata had always had a huge crush on Naruto, so she was the obvious choice to go. Ten-Ten had also been staring at him with a blush on her face after the Chunnin exams, so she was the next one to be exchanged. The only rival this left was Ino, and she had been with Shikamaru for two years, so she wasn't a threat.

Temari hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. "I can't believe I almost forgot." Naruto, Kin and Sakura all looked at her. "First, Gaara gave me this letter for Naruto when I requested transfer here. And the Hokage asked us to get her when you woke up. Come on." She exited, followed closely by the other two, leaving Naruto alone in his room.

While they were getting the Hokage, Naruto looked at the scroll Temari had given him. Taking a deep breath, he broke the seal and looked at it.

_Naruto,_

_My apologies that you were injured so badly. I hope you feel better soon. Oh, and if you hurt my sister, you die._

_Best Wishes,_

_Gaara of the Dessert_

Naruto looked at the short scroll. 'I wonder why Gaara felt he had to put that in writing. I know if anything happens to Temari, he'd kill who did it. That would include me.' Chalking it up to Gaara's usual (though markedly less in the past few years) homicidal manner, he pondered his strange dreams.

The fight against Haku. The fight against Neji. The fight against Kimimaro. They only had two things in common. One, was that they were all fights. The second thing was that they all had some kind of funky bloodline power. What was his subconscious trying to tell him?

Flashback

'_Blood, Bloodline! Why didn't anyone else ever think of that?'_

"_I can suck blood!"_

End Flashback

"CRAP!" Naruto screamed. Sasuke was going to try and make himself more powerful by sucking up other bloodlines of Ninjas! 'If I wasn't such a moron, I would have thought of that when he told me he could suck blood!' As Naruto was banging his head against his headboard, the three girls came back in, leading Tsunade.

"Um, Naruto?" Tsunade asked. "Any reason why you're trying to reopen your head wounds?"

Naruto stopped hitting his head. "Tsunade-bachan! Just the person I wanted to see!" Tsunade arched her eyebrow.

"Whatever you want, I can tell it's going to leave me with a huge headache, so ask me after I examine you. Shizune was supposed to have done that, but she seems to have disappeared." Behind her back, Temari smirked.

After the examination, Tsunade said, "Well, you're as fit as a bull. What did you want to ask me?"

"I need some time off from missions so I can go take care of personal matters." He stated.

Tsunade arched her eyebrows and blinked. "What would those matters be?"

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"I see." Tsunade said. Naruto had just finished explaining the situation with Sasuke, bloodlines, and blood. "So there are three people with bloodlines that you know that Sasuke knows of. The Hyugas are safe here in Konoha, and you have no idea where this Kimimaro is, so you want to go back to Wave country to check this Haku's grave. Right?"

Naruto nodded. Tsunade continued. "This is too serious a matter to entrust with one Ninja, no matter how strong he is. I'm assigning you a team, and making this an A-rank mission. I'll let you know who is on your team, which you will be leading, in a couple of hours. Until then, get some sleep."

Naruto sighed with relief. "Thanks baachan! You're the greatest!" Tsunade, who had been about to break her rule of not hitting hospital patients when he insulted her, sighed at the compliment. She left the room, followed again by all three of the girls. Naruto laid back down, and was asleep withing moments.

As they followed the Hokage, Kin, Temari and Sakura were all thinking the same thoughts. "I will be on his team!"

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As he slept, Naruto did not dream. Instead, he was pulled into his mindscape, and was greeted once again by Kyuubi. Naruto looked around, startled to find himself here, the relaxed. "Ok Kyu, why am I here?"

"**Well Kit, with all this talk about bloodlines, I thought you might like to learn about yours**."

"Wait. I have a bloodline?"

"**Of course you do! What did you think those things on your face were for?**"

"Ummm, a birthmark?"

"**Well, in a manner of speaking. You see, all Uzumakis have those marks on their cheeks. Each 'whisker' represents a different type of jutsu that you have a secret technique for."**

"So, what you're saying is that I have six different kinds of jutsus in my face!"

**"Basically."**

"So why can't I do them already!"

**"Your body already knows them. The first time your body activates one of the six techniques, it will be a situation where you need it, and you have no other choice. But afterwards, your mind will pick up the Jutsu, the whisker that represents that technique will disappear, and you can use it whenever you want."**

"Ok. Hey, you said that each one is for a different branch of Jutsu? But there are six marks, and I only know of three kinds of Jutsu!"

**"I was a little surprised about that as well. You see, the most any Uzumaki before you ever had was five whiskers. I suppose my influence added on the sixth."**

"So what types are there? I know Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu."

**"There is also Kenjutsu, the art of the sword, Kinjutsu, forbidden moves that would cause death to most people who would try to use them, and Onijutsu, demon techniques."**

"Thanks Kyu! I gotta work on that!" Naruto paused for a minute. "Hey, won't I need a sword then?"

**"Your problem."**

Under his breath, as he left his mindscape, Naruto muttered "Bastard Fox." Kyuubi chuckled. Despite what he had originally thought when he was sealed in here, he really liked this kid.

* * *

Well that's all for this chapter! I'll probably revise the bloodline scene later. It seemed kinda forced to me.

Next Chapter: Land of the Waves, and What Marks the Graves


	5. Friends and Foes

Well, this is the long awaited (or dreaded) chapter five for my story, 3 for the Fox Boy. Time for a quick Q&A!

Raging Phoenix: As far as Orochimaru knew, his bloodline was only good for leaving curse seals. He just never bothered with experimentation, as that was good enough for him. Sasuke wasn't born with it, so he experimented a little more (more on his experiments in future chapters).

I forget who asked this, but Kin and Zaku died a while ago, to fuel Orochimaru's bringing back the first and second Hokages

And I wish to add: If you're going to ask me a question, are point out something I did wrong, I will be more then happy to correct myself or answer you, but I have to be able to understand the question!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or anything having to do with Naruto. If I did, I could rub it in (and I would!)

Disclaimer 2: I don't own anything Bleach related either! (I figured since I'm sorta borrowing a character, I should let you guys know this)

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"**Kyuubi Talking"**

"_**Jutsus"**_

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Two days after his hospital stay, Naruto was on the way to wave country. Behind him was his team. Ordinarily, this would have been a regular four man team, but Tsunade-baachan had decided it was a large mission, so needed a larger team. So behind Naruto trailed five people, and in front of him was one, an almost double sized team.

Sakura had begged, pleaded, and gave countless reasons why she should be on the team. And it had succeeded, as she was accompanying the team, and more importantly Naruto, as the team's medic.

Kakashi wasn't entirely sure why he was there, or what he was doing. He had just showed up to the Hokages Office (Two hours after he was summoned), and been assigned to Naruto's team. Naruto had taken one look at his team, and had assigned Kakashi the role of second in command.

Temari had also talked the Hokage into letting her join the team. Her technical role was long range support, but in reality, all she had to do was wave her fan at people. Since she didn't have anyone to attack at the moment, she was spending her time staring at Naruto, with occasional looks to her sides for enemy ninjas.

Kankuro had no idea why he was there. He had gone to Konoha to visit his big sister (and see if she had any spare money, as he had spent all his on a thirteenth puppet) and he had somehow been roped into this mission, and given the title of 'Heavy Support Ninja'. Kankuro suspected that the amount of money he had been offered had something to do with his decision (he had never seen that many zeros!), but he was starting to wonder if it had been worth it, as he watched his sister make googly eyes at the team leader.

Out in front, Kin was darting around, looking at the terrain ahead. She had also begged to be put on this mission, and surprisingly, she had been accepted without question. Naruto had decided that she would be the team scout, a position at which she excelled. Her only regret was that she couldn't stare at Naruto with Sakura and Temari.

In the middle of the group, Shikamaru was wondering how he had agreed to such a troublesome mission. He thought it had something to do with the Hokage threatening to bash his head if he didn't. But secretly, he was happy to help his friend out, and was honored to be there. But being named Team Strategist, and third in command to boot, was pushing it a little.

The seven man team was almost to wave country when Naruto stopped suddenly. The entire team crouched into battle positions, but stopped when they saw what he was staring at. A large oak tree was off to the side of the path, a small cut mark in the middle. Kakashi walked up to Naruto, and clasped his shoulder. Sakura came up on the other side, and grabbed his hand, almost without thought.

The other four members of the team looked on this scene with no small amount of confusion. They had no idea that this tree marked the very first fight of team seven as a team. There had been a simple, innocuous puddle on the side of the road. If there had been some rain sometime in the past few weeks, it would have been unremarkable. Two mist ninjas had rose out of the water, and attacked.

They would have killed Kakashi, except he had already spotted the puddle and had prepared a Kawarimi. Instead, Sasuke had pinned their chains to a tree with a shuriken and a kunai. Then Kakashi had emerged from hiding and killed the two. Sasuke had been the quickest to act, and most ready to attack. Even though it had been useful on that day, it could have been an omen. Those thoughts ran through the head of the remainder of team seven as they looked at the tree, which still maintained the scar from Sasuke's kunai. Naruto shook his head, clearing it. He had no time for old memories. "Come on, Team." He said, startling Sakura and Kakashi out of their reverie. "Only a few more miles to Wave Country."

The team took to the path, Kin taking point with Kakashi (still reading his dirty book) in the rear. The others all formed up a circle around Naruto. They walked on in silence for a while, each in their own thoughts. Kin decided that she needed to scout ahead a little more, and drew ahead.

The peace was shattered by an ear splitting scream. Sakura's head jerked up, forcibly removed from her day dreaming about Naruto without a shirt on. "That sounded like Kin!" she exclaimed. Naruto, who had already figured this out, was already bounding ahead.

"She's gotta be alright, she just has to be!" He thought.

Two very frantic minutes later, the team reached where the scream came from. To their surprise, it was exactly where they were going: Haku and Zabuza's grave. Naruto's intense blue eyes took in the area: Zabuza's grave, his sword still stuck behind it, a large empty pit where Haku's grave used to be, Kin lying on the ground, a shrouded figure facing her with its back to them.

Naruto's eyes focused on the large pit. Obviously, someone had gotten there before him, and taken Haku's body. It really didn't take any smarts to figure out that Sasuke had guessed which bloodline they would try to protect first, and had gotten their ahead of them.

Kin raised her head and her hand, and launched a needle into the leg of the shrouded figure. It didn't even try to avoid the projectile. A small bell clinked as the needle it was attached to sunk into the leg. Kin then appeared to pass out, as that took the last energy she had to use. The figure wasn't even hurt.

The figure turned around, and faced the remainder of the team. It was then that Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi got one of the biggest shocks in their life.

Haku stood before them, a cold smirk on his face.

As half the remaining team stood shocked, Shikamaru began to analyze. "Temari, Kankuro!" He shouted. "Engage the enemy!" The sand siblings, realizing it was best to do as their third in command said, sprang into action. Temari brought up her fan, while Kankuro bit his thumb and wiped it on a scroll. His puppet Karasu materialized, ready for a fight.

As the ninja from sand fought the strange pale boy, Shikamaru thought furiously. 'Since bonehead, pinky, and one-eye are all still gaping at the attacker, I'm guessing that it wasn't anyone they ever expected to see again.' He looked at the boy, and saw all he needed to.

There were two gaping fang marks on his neck, and a huge hole in his chest.

'The boy is dead. And while the hole is old, obviously what killed him, the fang marks are new.' Shikamaru thought back to what the mission was. Uchiha Sasuke could suck blood, and gain the person's bloodlines. 'Sasuke must have come here first, taken the bloodline from the corpse and… ewww! He sucked blood out of a dead guy! Well, anyway, he got what he wanted, and then cast some strange jutsu to bring his back to fight us. I remember the ANBU who watched the fight between Sandaime-sama and Orochimaru mention a jutsu that brought back the First and Second. Sasuke must have gotten it from him.'

Shikamaru looked out at the team again, and was surprised to see that Temari and Kankuro had both been knocked unconscious. Sakura had soon followed, as she had snapped out of her reverie and was attempting to heal Kin. Now Kakashi and Naruto had both come out of their shock and were engaging the boy in hand to hand combat. As he watched, Naruto created some Kage Bushins and grabbed the boys legs. Kakashi had jumped back, and was charging up his Chakra for a Chidori attack.

With a roar, Kakashi sprung at the reanimated body of Haku. This boy had given his all in the shinobi way, and reanimating him was a desecration! His emotions fueled his Chidori as he looked at the body with his Sharingan. With a roar, he charged. His eye said that there was no way Haku was going to dodge this. He thrust his hand into the part of the body that wasn't mangled.

As Kakashi struggled to extricate his hand, Haku smiled a cold smile. With a voice that sounded as if it had been dragged across space from the other side of the grave, he said, "Heh. That won't work. I am already dead." He made a one handed handseal, and some ice needles struck the Naruto clones, freeing his leg. With a few more needles, he put Kakashi down. With a well placed kick, the Copy-Ninja was unconscious.

Naruto was panicking. Nothing he could do could stop this abomination! He couldn't use the sealing technique the third had used, because his body was already occupied by Kyuubi. Besides, he didn't know that move anyway. Naruto was surprised to see the corpse lift his arms and do jumping jacks!

He looked down, and saw a shadow. Of course! He had forgotten about Shikamaru! But the team strategist had been planning. They could win this! The sudden hope Naruto was feeling was crushed at Shikamaru's next words.

"I can't hold this for very long! This corpse must have been really good in real life! I can hold him for about two more minutes, then distract him for maybe another three, but you have to figure out a way to beat him!"

Naruto jumped back and thought. Haku had been like him in real life, using all his energy and all his power into protecting the person who meant the most to him. Naruto remembered studying the Jutsu that Orochimaru, and now apparently Sasuke, used. The Worldly Resurrection Summoning, it was called. The user summoned the corpses of the people he wanted, then drove a kunai into the back of the neck, reanimating the corpse, tweaking the personality of the corpse, and putting it under control of the summoner.

But some things could only be destroyed by using specific knowledge of the brain, and destroying certain sections of it. Others could be altered to create changes in the personality. Sasuke knew that, but he probably wasn't sure how to alter a brain so unlike his own. It seemed that he had boosted the hate in Haku, as well as the suspicion, which raised his reflexes. But it seemed that he hadn't destroyed much of Haku's brain, which ment-

It clicked. The only way to beat Haku was to use his one weakness against him: His love and devotion for Zabuza. But the Demon of the Mist was dead, and even if he could, Naruto wouldn't use the Worldly Resurrection to bring him back. That jutsu was just wrong. But part of Zabuza was still around. It was Kubikiri Houcho, Zabuza's sword, and with all his emotions heightened by a dark jutsu, he might not be able to tell one person from another if they carried the same sword. 'Hell, I need a sword anyway.' Naruto thought.

He shouted. "Shikamaru! Release the jutsu!"

The strategist was shocked. He had expected to be unconscious before Naruto could figure out a solution. But with Naruto screaming for him to release the Kagemane no Jutsu, he had to have an idea. Shikamaru released the jutsu, and ran to Sakura to try to revive her. If she got up, she could help him with the others.

Haku charged at Shikamaru, when a strange sense stopped him. His head whipped around, and saw Naruto about to pick up Kubikiri Houcho. With a cry of "Don't touch Zabuza-sama's sword!" the reanimation charged at Naruto. Just as he was about to reach him, his hand closed on Kubikiri's hilt.

A pulse of chakra swept out of the sword, forming a blue dome around Naruto. The corpse of Haku continued to bang on the wall, attempting to force his way in, completely oblivious to the fact that Shikamaru had roused Sakura, and they were now working on Kakashi and Kin. Naruto jumped back from the sword, startled as it continued to let out the blue energy.

Five shrouded figures appeared in front of the sword. In unison, they spoke. "You have been sponsored, now you will be tested!" Then one of the figures came forward, and its shroud dissolved, leaving Naruto to face a bulky man in dark pants and arm bracers, carrying Kubikiri Houcho. In a deep baritone, he spoke.

"You have chosen to try to wield Kubikiri Houcho. It is a powerful sword, with many special abilities. But to unlock the swords powers, you must pass our test. You have already impressed one of us, but must defeat the rest of us in single combat to unlock the true powers of Kubikiri Houcho. If you lose, you will die. Do you choose to accept this test?"

Naruto blinked rapidly, attempting to assimilate all this new information at once. His brain translated it into something he could understand. 'This sword had cool powers. Beat these five jokers to get cool powers. You lose, you die.' Naruto grinned. "I'll take this challenge." Suddenly, another Kubikiri Houcho appeared in his hand. He took a guard position, and thanked Kami that Jiraiya had taught him how to use a sword.

Battle commenced, and in about five minutes, the strange guardian was knocked unconscious, and disappeared. Naruto pointed his copy of Kubikiri Houcho at the remaining four. "Ok! Who's next?"

Ten minutes, and two more battles later, Naruto was slightly out of breath. But he had defeated two more of the sword guardians. That just left two more. One walked up, and his shroud dissolved, leaving Naruto facing a very familiar bandage wrapped face. Momochi Zabuza walked in front of him. Noticing Naruto's confused look, Zabuza laughed. "What, did you think we were random spirits?" Naruto nodded. "Actually, we are the greatest warriors who ever wielded Kubikiri Houcho."

Naruto nodded again. That made sense. After all, these fights had been getting harder. "That means…" Naruto said, trailing off as he looked at the last shrouded guardian.

Zabuza smirked. Or at least, the shape of the bandages made it appear that he smirked. "Yeah kid, he's much stronger then me. Oh, and have you wondered which one of us you managed to impress?" Naruto nodded yet again. "It was me. So you don't have to fight me!" Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, but then remembered. The next one was stronger then Zabuza.

Zabuza dissolved, leaving Naruto facing one guardian. The last shroud dissolved, showing Naruto someone who was shorter then he was. And it looked like the guardian was actually younger then he was! His hair stuck up at angles, and piercing blue eyes looked at him. He was dressed in a black robe, and carried his Kubikiri on his back. The last guardian spoke.

"I am Toshiro Hitsugaya, and I am the greatest warrior who has ever lifted Kubikiri Houcho. You must beat me to unlock Kubikiri's true powers, but no one has ever beaten me in a sword fight before!"

The two charged at each other, meeting in the middle with a flurry of swordplay. After a few strokes, Naruto knew he was outmatched. Hitsugaya was truly a master at his craft, and Naruto was just an apprentice. The fox boy jumped back, and thought while he dodged the powerful strokes from Hitsugaya.

'I've got to separate Hitsugaya from his sword!' he thought, but that idea was quickly shattered when the guardian threw his sword at Naruto, and then recalled it to his hand. Naruto continued to dodge as he thought more.

'I can't think of anything! I might as well just give up and hope he won't kill me.' He thought. As he turned around, Hitsugaya had stopped about a yard away.

"Just so you know," the guardian said. "If you give in, I will have to kill you. It's the swordsman's creed. Besides, I haven't had this much fun in years!"

Naruto shook his head. He never gave up! If he died, he'd just come back and kick this guys ass again! As he thought that, one of his whiskers began to glow. The upper left whisker burned white, and disappeared. Suddenly, Naruto knew what to do.

He threw down his sword, and jumped into the air. With a crash, he landed on his hands in a handstand. Then he began to spin himself around, while channeling all his chakra to his legs. They began to leak bars of light, composed of pure chakra. As he spun faster and faster, Naruto cried "**_Saikou Uzumaki Taijustu Waza: Kujiku Rasen!_**" ( Supreme Uzumaki Taijutsu Technique: Crushing Spiral!)

Hitsugaya had enough time to utter a startled "WHAT!" before he was hit. And when he was hit, he went down. He was about to try to struggle to his feet when he felt the cold steel of Kubikiri Houcho to his neck.

"I win." Naruto said. Hitsugaya nodded.

With that, the blue dome disintegrated. The real Kubikiri Houcho appeared in Naruto's hands, and the corpse of Haku that had been trying to get in suddenly stumbled as the resistance disappeared. He charged at Naruto, who placed his sword in front of him. Haku suddenly skidded to a stop. "Zabuza, sir!" he stated, then bowed down on one knee. Naruto took advantage of this perfect opportunity, and Haku's head went flying from his shoulders. With the head no longer telling the body that it was fine, it suddenly realized that it was dead, and fell over.

Naruto sheathed Kubikiri on his back. Conveniently, a sheath had somehow appeared there. He looked over at his friends, most of who were revived. Shikamaru had taken advantage of Haku's distraction to bring everyone but one person conscious again. The five of them looked back at Naruto, noticing something different about him.

Kakashi was the first to pinpoint it, other then the fact he had a huge sword on his back. "Hey Naruto! You look weird with only five whiskers!"

Naruto looked down, and saw Temari still unconscious. However, she was giggling, a sound he never associated with Temari. With his superhuman hearing, he could hear her very clearly as she mumbled "Stop Naruto! That tickles! Wait, on second though, keep going!" No one else heard her, which made everyone wonder why Naruto was suddenly as red as a tomato.

Quickly composing himself, he said, "We've got to go back to Konoha. Sasuke has three bloodlines now, and he will be after the others soon." The five conscious team members nodded, and Sakura was about to shake Temari awake, when Naruto stopped her.

"Nah. I'll carry her."

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Well, that's chapter five! I think it was one of my best ones! Well, 6 will be out soon, and R&R as always!


	6. Returning

A/N: Sorry for the delay! Just so everyone knows, I've decided on a Harem for Naruto, and fluff will be coming next chapter! Oh, and everyone should read my other Story, Brothers in Misery! I like it alot! Well, R&R

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

The campfire crackled, then sparked as someone poked it with a long stick. Naruto was glad that they had time to camp on the way back to Konoha. They had run all the way to Wave Country, fought a huge battle (or in Naruto's case, several) and began their way back to Konoha, all without stopping. So it had been no surprise when Shikamaru simply laid down, claiming that walking was too troublesome.

The rest of the team had taken that opportunity to lay down, and set up camp. It was now the fourth watch, and Naruto was on guard duty. Little did he know that he wasn't the only one up. Behind him, in their sleeping rolls, Temari, Kin and Sakura were doing what was fast becoming one of their favorite pastimes: Rock, Paper, Scissors. But this game had something important riding on it.

Rock, Paper, Scissors! They all threw rock. Rock, Paper, Scissors! Three papers. Rock, Paper Scissors! A trinity of scissors. The three of them screwed up their faces in concentration. They each thought they had to win. There was too much riding on it. They each took a gamble. Rock, Paper, Scissors! The result was two papers- and a scissors! Temari stifled a whoop of glee, having bested the two rivals at the ultimate challenge. Kin groaned under her breath. She had really wanted this one. Sakura, however, smiled slightly. They had already said that if he wanted to, he could have all three of them. And what kind of man wouldn't take that opportunity if offered?

But Temari, as winner of their little contest, would get first chance at him. She got up, and walked over to where Naruto was sitting, still poking the fire. "Nice night, isn't it?"

Naruto looked around, and when he saw who it was, a wide smile grew on his face. A small blush also colored his face. He had carried Temari for about an hour before she had woken up, and she spoke while she slept. Fortunately, her words were so quiet that no one else could hear her. Unfortunately, he could hear her quite clearly, and most of her conversations involved the two of them in.. touchy situations that made his face turn red. "Yeah, nice night. Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Temari shrugged. "I got enough this afternoon. Thanks for letting me, by the way."

Naruto nodded, accepting the thanks. "Anytime."

"But why did you carry me around? It would have been much easier for your back just to wake me up." Temari inquired.

Naruto turned redder, if that was even possible. Temari arched an eyebrow. "Well," Naruto said. "Shikamaru was about to wake you up, but I decided you needed your sleep." Temari smirked. She sat there, staring at him with a look that let him know she wasn't buying it.

"Ok, I was curious about what you dreamed about." he admitted. Temari turned slightly redder.

"How would you know that?" she asked, frantically hoping she still didn't-

"You talk in your sleep. Very quietly, but I could hear it."

She did. She still talked in her sleep. Desperately, she tried to remember what she had dreamt about while unconscious. She remembered her getting a really powerful fan, her usual fantasies about Naruto, having a pet tanuki-

'Oh shit.' Temari thought to herself. Her usual fantasies about Naruto. She felt herself turning bright red. She looked over at Naruto, who was struggling not to laugh. "Any way you could forget what you heard?"

Naruto shook his head. Temari squeezed her eyes shut, praying that lightning would strike her, rouge ninjas would attack, anything! This was the most embarrassing moment of her life! Worse even then the time Kankurou had known she was in the shower, and charged his friends admission to peep at her! Something had to happen. Anything!

He internal rambling was cut off by something extremely unexpected: A warm, soft pressure on her lips. Her eyes popped open, and saw Naruto backing away. "Sorry," he said. "I just thought you looked so embarrassed and-"

His explanation was stopped by Temari grabbing his head, and ramming her lips to his. His eyes bulged as wide as hers had. But a moment later, they shut with pleasure. The next several minutes were taken with short pauses to breathe, dishevelment of hair, and hands in places they usually weren't. Naruto had never kissed a girl before, so this was a new and startling, though extremely pleasant, experience. Temari, on the other hand, had kissed several boys before, but never with this passion and enthusiasm.

Their frantic make out session was about to escalate into something more, with Temari's hands resting in a place she usually didn't dare go, when a loud cough from off to the side separated them. They looked over to see Kakashi standing there. In his usual lazy drawl, he said "It's my turn for guard duty. But if you prefer, I can always come back later." He watched as Temari and Naruto scampered off to the edge of camp before he sat down on a log and pulled out a notebook. He proceeded to frantically write down everything he had just seen. Jiriaya had promised him a number of volumes of Icha Icha Paradise equal to the amount of material he was able to gather. Kakashi watched as the two resumed their make out session. This would easily be worth ten volumes.

After another little while, they ended their little session, which fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, didn't escalate into anything more. In between pants, Temari said "I.. was.. going.. to.. ask." She inhaled deeply. "If you wanted to do something when we got back to Konoha." Naruto nodded, also short on breath.

"I'll pick you up around eight, ok?" he asked. She nodded, and then with a final kiss, they returned to their bedding.

* * *

The next day, their teammates noticed something odd. Temari was practically attached to Naruto's arm. Kakashi kept looking at them, letting out a perverted giggle, then jotting down notes. Kin and Sakura kept shooting jealous glances at Temari, though the Sand Kunoichi had assured them that she would be able to get him to accept all three of them sooner or later. Kankurou was stubbornly ignoring his sister, and was internally promising to report Gaara about this later. And, as always, Shikamaru didn't care.

As they entered Konoha, they were attracting more stares then usual. Naruto was receiving fewer hateful glares and more confused ones. It was impossible that the monster of Konoha had landed such a girl as Temari, the Dessert Rose of Suna. But with her clinging fiercely to his arm with no sign of letting go, that's what it looked like. Some villagers got the idea that the Demon Boy was using some mind control on the Sand Princess, which could somehow be vanquished by throwing a rock at the controller. The first villager who tested that theory was quickly proven wrong, as Temari caught the projectile and returned it to its thrower much harder then it was launched in the first place.

Soon enough, the team entered the Hokage tower. After the usual glares, and the newer, confused looks at the girl on Naruto's arm, they found themselves before the Hokage. Without preamble, Naruto launched into his report.

"It took the special task force approximately twelve hours to reach Wave Country. Once we arrived, Kin went out to scout the area. A couple of minutes later, we were alerted by a loud scream that something was wrong. We arrived on the scene to discover the reanimated corpse of Haku attacking Kin. By the holes in its neck, and the fact that it was moving, I would say that Sasuke got there before us. Kakashi, Sakura and I were temporarily immobilized, and the sand siblings attacked the corpse. They were defeated, and so were Kakashi and Sakura. Shikamaru immobilized the enemy while I drew Zabuza's sword from his grave. In it's mentally altered state, the enemy refused to attack the wielder of Zabuza's sword, and was quickly destroyed.

Tsunade arched an eyebrow. "It sounds like you left something out."

"I assure you, anything else that happened in Wave Country is purely personal, and has no bearing on this mission.

Tsunade nodded, sensing truth in Narutos words. "Then tonight, I would like you to-" She was cut off by Naruto raising his hand.

"Actually, Hokage-sama, I had hoped I could convince you to give my team and I the night off." Naruto stated.

Now Tsunade's eyebrows were in the middle of her forehead. It just sounded weird, having Naruto call her Hokage-sama. And Naruto had never asked for a day off before. Usually, she had to force him to take vacations. She wondered what was so important that he had to take the rest of the day off. Then Kakashi caught her eye. Using a series of ANBU hand signals, he said exactly what had happened on the way back from Wave, and exactly what he thought was going to happen tonight. Tsunade turned bright red from some of his suggestions.

"Ok." The Hokage said. "I'll grant your request. You can have today off. Meet me in the tower at seven o'clock tomorrow morning. Anyone late," here she shot a glare at Kakashi "Will be hurt. Everyone is dismissed, except for Temari. I want a word with her." Everyone filed out, except for the aforementioned Sand Kunoichi.

Tsunade looked at Temari, stared at her over tented fingers. She continued to stare in silence until Temari began shifting on her feet, thinking she had done something wrong. Then Tsunade spoke. "I understand that you and Naruto have a date tonight, and that the two of you would probably have been naked and sweating in the campsite if Kakashi hadn't interrupted you in the middle."

Temari blushed, confirming Tsunade's thoughts. She smiled, and in a pleasant voice said. "Good. I'm glad he has someone that might come to love him that way. He's needed it for a long time. Just remember one thing. If you hurt him, I will rip out your spinal cord and choke you with it. Is that clear?" The Hokage watched in satisfaction as the blood receded from Temari's face, leaving her as pale as a sheet.

The Sand Kunoichi swallowed, and looked up at the Hokage. "Believe me, Hokage-sama, hurting Naruto is one thing I would never do."

Once again, the Hokage smiled. "Good. But remember that it would be the last thing you do as well."

Temari walked out of the Hokage's office. She expected to be alone, but to her surprise, Naruto was still standing there. She looked at him. His usually bronze skin was paler then usual, and he was panting heavily. "Kankurou threatened you, didn't he." It was not a question.

Naruto nodded. "Some of the things he said he'd do- I didn't think they were anatomically possible." He inhaled again. Temari patted him on the back, noticing once again how rock solid his muscles were. Naruto accepted the comfort, then stiffened when he realized that Temari was touching him. Temari felt him stiffen, the looked into his eyes. Desire, Love, and Lust shone in them, identical to the feelings in her own.

Before either of them knew what they were doing, they met with enough force to jar their teeth. But neither of them cared. They were just happy to be close to each other. Naruto was focusing on how she tasted, and how good she felt in his arms. She just felt like she belonged there. Temari was thinking extremely similar thoughts. It just seemed right in Naruto's arms, as if nothing could hurt her.

Slowly, as they explored each others mouths, they realized what they were doing, and where they were doing it. Identical thoughts shot through their minds: 'We're making out right outside the Hokage's door!' As one, they broke apart, breathing heavily. Then, as one, they spun on their heels and exited the tower. Before they went their separate ways, Naruto spoke up.

"Eight o'clock, right?" Temari nodded. Naruto asked "Formal or casual?"

"You tell me." Temari said. Naruto thought for a minute.

"Casual." He said decisively. With a quick kiss, Naruto ran off. A moment later, he came sprinting back. "I don't know where you live, do I."

Temari giggled, and then gave him the address. Naruto chuckled, gave her a longer, more lingering kiss, and then ran off toward his house again. Temari watched him go, thinking that it would be too long for tonight.

* * *

Naruto arrived home floating on air. He had a girl he loved, who he thought loved him. He had a date tonight, and a- wait a second. He had a date! He had never been on a date before! 'What do I wear, where do we go, what do we doe!' The pre-date jitters had begun.

'I gotta get some help! Someone who knows what women like! Kakashi-sensei and Ero-Sennin are out, I don't want her thinking I'm a pervert! I could ask Iruka-sensei, but he's still single! What would he know! I need someone who knows how to deal with them, someone like-'

"You want me to do WHAT!" Sarutobi Asuma exclaimed. "Sorry, I've got enough women problems right now that need helping without yours. I got divorced last year, and we just finished hammering out all the legal stuff. Besides, I have a date with Kurenai later."

Asuma was out, and unfortunately that had been the only non-perverted male adult he was on good terms with except Iruka, who had never had good success with women, and Gai, who would probably go on about "Show her your flames of youth! YOSH!"

Then it dawned on Naruto. There was one person he could ask that hadn't occurred to him. He quickly found a quiet spot, and sat down to meditate. Quickly, he found himself in his mindscape, standing before the cage of Kyuubi. "Yo, Kyu!" he screamed. "I need advice!"

A pair of glowing red eyes opened, and the enormous head of Kyuubi no Kitsune moved toward the bars of his cage. "**_What do you need, Kit?_**"

"Advice on dating!"

Kyuubi looked at his vessel in shock for a moment. He had never expected his kit to come to him with this problem! "**_Do we need to have the talk?_**"

"No, Baka-Fox! I know all that stuff, I hang around with perverts most of the time! But how do I date?"

Kyuubi settled back on his haunches, and thought for a moment. "**_Well, this is what you have to do…_**"

* * *

A/N: I'm taking suggestions for the date! I have basic plan, but I'm listening to all good ideas! Oh, and sorry about the shortness and lack of action this chapter. It will get better next chapter. R&R! 


	7. Dates and Dashing

A/N: Well, it's time for a new chapter of Three for the Fox Boy! Well, time for my daily ramblings. First on the agenda: REVIEW! My number of reviews has been slowly dropping. They hit their peak back at chapter three, while my favorite (#5) was practically ignored! Well, I'm now done ranting about that.

Second order of business: I'm going to humbly ask you to read my other story, Brothers in Misery. It's actually my favorite story I have up.

Third: I just wanted to let you know that updates for this story will be coming slower then they used to. It's getting harder to write stuff for this story as the romance gets more integral to the plot.

Finally, I just wanted to apologize to everyone who was expecting (or hoping) for Kyuubi to come up with loads of strange and sick suggestions. He actually has some good ideas. Oh, and sorry about the date quality. It's the first one I've ever written, so it's probably not that good.

Read on!

* * *

Naruto came out of his little reverie. Surprisingly, Kyuubi had had some pretty good advice. Now all he had to do was get ready for the date. Which meant he needed to put on something non-orange. Maybe black. Naruto owned a lot of black.

Temari was pacing in front of her door. She had dressed up non-formal, just like Naruto had said. She was in a red shirt that showed a little bit of her belly, and tight black pants, as well as some nice sandals she had made Kankurou buy her. It was almost eight. There were five minutes to go… three… one… It was time.

She started inhaling through her nose, and breathing out through her mouth, just like her nurse had always told her. That was supposed to release chemicals that calmed you down. It was 8:01. Suddenly, panic started going through her head. What if he wasn't coming? What if he had chickened out? What if he had been toying with her emotions? What if-

A knock on the door interrupted her freaking out. Temari stopped panicking, and smoothed her hair, which, for the first time, she was wearing down. She opened the door, and saw Naruto standing there casually. "Ready to go?" he asked. She nodded, but he pulled something out from behind his back: A large bouquet of yellow roses.

Naruto watched as Temari's face lit up. Kyuubi's advice was paying off already. "**_Females love the scent of roses. It bewitches their senses, sort of like ramen does for you, only they're more constrained._"**

Temari put the roses in a vase, and they set out. "So where are we going, Naruto-kun?" she asked.

Naruto gulped. "I set some stuff up at the park." He watched again as her face lit up once again. 'Thanks Kyu." He thought.

"**_Remember Kit, you owe me one later._**" The fox demon responded.

Kyuubi's advice for this situation was, "**_All girls are different, but they usually fall into one of three categories: The high class ones, who like restaurants with high prices. The middle ones, who usually like movies so they can hold guys' hands. And the rugged ones, who are out-doorsy types and like nature. Your girl here is defiantly the last._**"

As they walked, Temari once again glued onto his arm, a question occurred to Naruto. "Hey Kyu, how do you know so much about dating?"

Naruto heard the fox demon sigh. "**_I seduced a few mortals in my time, ok?_**"

Naruto shook his head ruefully. He should have known. Temari, catching his movement, asked "Is everything okay, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I was just having a nice talk with Kyuubi." Temari chuckled, imagining all the things a fox demon could say. They walked in silence for a while, Temari resting her head on Naruto's shoulder.

The peacefulness was shattered a few minutes later by a simple thing: A villager talking under his breath. "Damn demon. I still say we should kill it in its sleep." The villager didn't realize he had said that right near a girl with very good hearing.

The next thing the villager knew, he was lodged in a concrete wall, with Temari having pulled a small(er) fan out of the back of her shirt and blew him away with a well placed chibi-Kamaitatchi. "If I ever hear ANYONE talk about my boyfriend like that again, I will do SO MUCH WORSE!" she screamed. Everyone was very quiet around the couple after that.

They resumed their peaceful walk with fingers intertwined, and Temari resting her head once again on Naruto shoulder. But they soon got to the park, where Naruto led her to a nice clearing. In the middle was a lantern on a bamboo pole, illuminating a blanket with a small picnic basket on it. Temari let go of Naruto and sat down on the blanket, as Naruto reached inside of it.

Naruto crossed his fingers, and pulled out a stick of dango, put it on a paper plate, and gave it to Temari. She looked at it expressionlessly for a minute, and then smiled widely. "My favorite! How did you know?"

_Flashback_

_"Kankurou, either tell me what her favorite is, or I'll annihilate Karasu with a nice Rasengan to the middle."_

_"I'll tell, I'll tell!"_

_End Flashback_

"Lucky guess." He said as he pulled out another stick for himself. They sat there, munching dango, and talking about what Temari had been up to in between the time Naruto saw her last and when she came to rescue him.

Up in one of the nearby trees (ironically a Sakura tree), Sakura and Kin were sitting, watching the happily chatting couple. "What're they talking about?" Sakura whispered.

Being from sound, Kin had learned to read lips years ago. "They're just talking about the past and old missions they've been on. Stop worrying. She said she'd do it, and she will."

Back at the picnic, they had just finished up the last of the dango. Soon, Naruto and Temari were skipping rocks in the pond. They did that for a good long time, and soon it was past midnight. Naruto stretched. "I should probably be getting you home." He said. Reluctantly, Temari nodded.

He walked her home, with her still practically attached to his arm. Soon, they reached her door. She looked at him and said, "I had a really good time tonight."

Naruto grinned. "Yeah, me too."

Temari turned bright red as the thoughts that were going through her mind demanded that she ask. "Would you, you know, like to… stay awhile?"

Naruto turned as red as possible. He remembered Kyuubi's final piece of advice: "**_If she asks you to stay awhile, ACCEPT!_**"

He opened his mouth, and was about to answer when a dark shadow dropped next to them. It was an ANBU with a tiger mask. "Naruto-dono, Temari-dono, the Hokage needs you to prepare for an emergency mission immediately! Meet the rest of the team at the gate in ten minutes!" With that, the ANBU darted off.

Naruto smiled in apology to Temari. "Maybe later." With that, they both darted off to prepare.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the team had assembled by the main gates of Konoha. Tsunade was standing there in her bathrobe, having been woken up by the emergency report. "The Kazekage has sent a message on their fastest carrier bird. Uchiha Sasuke has been spotted by their spy network, approaching Suna. We believe he is after Hyuuga Hinata, who is there for an exchange trip. You have eight hours before he gets there. I suggest you leave, now!"

Two hours later, the team was loaded on a cart. Temari was standing in the back, blowing them along with her oversized fan. They were making excellent time, but Temari was tiring out. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and saw Naruto looking at her. "Let me take over for a little bit." He said.

She nodded, and Naruto took her place. Soon they were blowing along even faster as Naruto powered their way with level two Rasengans. Quickly, they were in the desert, and still moving strong.

Releasing level two Rasengans was tiring work, and pretty soon, Naruto became more exhausted then Temari was. The entire team noticed this, and Temari stood up to return to her work. But Kakashi decided that he had the perfect way to do this.

Making some hand seals, Kakashi cried out "**Kuchyose no Jutsu **(Summoning Technique)." And a pack of dogs came out. The Cyclops-like jounin gestured to Kankurou. "Would you?" he inquired.

The puppet master nodded, and shot out his chakra strings. They quickly fastened onto the backs of the pack of dogs, and Kankurou cracked the strings. "Mush!" he yelled. The dogs charged off, pulling the cart along. Kankurou fastened the strings to the cart, and laid back down. They would be there soon.

* * *

The sun was just coming up when the dog-pulled cart arrived in Suna, the Village hidden in the Sand. The team (most of whom had been dosing) sprang out, and Temari led the way to Kazekage Tower.

After they entered the Tower, they quickly went up to the top level, where Gaara's office was. A snooty secretary said in an extremely conceited voice "Do you have an appointment, or should I call the Black Ops?"

Temari and Kankurou walked up to the front. Before the secretary knew it, he was wrapped in chakra strings and was staring down the business end of a small fan. "Do we really need an appointment?" The secretary gulped.

"Temari-sama! Kankurou-sama! My apologies! I didn't recognize you! Please, go right ahead!" he managed to squeak out. Kankurou dropped him, and the team walked ahead into Gaara's office. Inside, they met Gaara, who was doing some paperwork, and Hinata, who was serving as his assistant.

"Gaara," Naruto panted out. "We got your message!"

Gaara would have raised an eyebrow (if he had any). "What message?" he asked.

Temari stepped forward. "You sent a message that the Missing-Nin Uchiha Sasuke was on his way here, to attack Hinata-san. Correct?"

If Gaara had eyebrows, both of them would be high on his forehead. "I sent no message. I had no idea that the Uchiha would even want to attack Hinata-san." Hinata looked up from her work, eyes wide, startled that someone would want to attack her.

Kakashi spoke for all of the team, in an unusually serious voice. "I think something is wrong here." As if confirming his words, a large explosion from the west of the village erupted.

The team moved quickly, springing out of Gaara's window. Kankurou was the last out, and he turned back for a moment. "Brother, please remain here to guard Hinata-san." Gaara, after a moment of thought, nodded. Kankurou returned the gesture and darted out of the window.

The team ran toward the site of the explosion. 'This was just a distraction!' Naruto thought. 'I can't believe we all fell for that! But at least we're gonna see some action!'

They all skidded to a halt in front of a smoldering crater in the middle of the west quadrant of Suna. A dark form emerged from the crater, staggering slightly. As it got closer, the team could make out the distinctive red Sharingan eyes, dark hair and slightly insane look of Uchiha Sasuke. "Well, everyone is here." He said. "Let's get started." He bit his thumb and slammed it on the ground. "**Kuchyose no Jutsu!**" he shouted, and three giant snakes appeared, ready to destroy all of them.

Kakashi decided that the snakes were the biggest threat at the moment, and charged at one of them. A few rapid fire chakra-enhanced kicks were launched, and the snake reeled back for a moment. In midair, Kakashi went through a couple of seals, then landed on the ground with a thud. "**Doton: Maruishi Meiun no Jutsu! **(Earth Style: Boulder Doom Technique)" he screamed, and an enormous boulder rushed out of the ground and rolled at the snake. It had a moment to realize that there was a large heavy object rolling at it, then it's head was crushed.

Kakurou came to the same conclusion as Kakashi, and pulled a pair of scrolls out of his back pocket. "Karasu, come forth!" he yelled, and his favorite puppet emerged from one of the scrolls. "Sorakishu, ride the wind!" he called, and one of his new puppets came out. This one was shaped like a large bird, and had a giant needle for a beak. Attaching his chakra strings, the puppets charged at another snake.

Kakashi had finished dealing with the first snake when Shikamaru and Kin engaged the third snake. Sighing, Kakashi ran to help them. 'Those two are the weakest in combat on the team. Kin's strength lies in stealth and illusion, while Shikamaru is the thinker. They need me." He thought.

With all three snakes dead or engaged, Naruto, Sakura and Temari charged at Sasuke. The traitor began going through some hand seals, and Naruto and Sakura managed to get close to him before he finished them. But he did finish them, and placed his hands on the ground and yelled "**Tengai Tate! **(Dome Shield)" A sparkling crystal dome rose from the ground, enclosing the former team seven inside of it. Temari skidded to a halt, and tried to bash into it. When she couldn't leave a mark, she darted away to help Kankurou. But as she ran toward the snake, she yelled back at Naruto.

"Don't die baka!"

Naruto grinned. "I won't!" he yelled back. He looked over at Sakura. "Ready?"

"And willing." She said. And as one, they charged at the Uchiha.

Sasuke dodged a powerful punch from Sakura, and bent backwards to escape a slash from Naruto and Kubikiri Houcho. Sakura built up her chakra and lashed out in another punch, so fast Sasuke couldn't dodge. He did manage to block though, and got his arms up in the way of the blow. There was the sound of bone cracking, and Sasuke skidded back to the edge of the dome.

Sasuke's forearm bent where there wasn't supposed to be any joint, signifying a badly broken arm. But he bent it back into place, and flexed his muscle! "Well, that was inconvenient." He muttered, and rushed at the two. In shock from the ease Sasuke healed himself, Sakura was easily caught and was hit with a blow to the gut. She flew backwards, but was caught by Naruto.

"You ok, Sakura-chan?" he asked. She nodded, and prepared to charge in again. But she felt a hand on her shoulder stopping her. She looked up and saw Naruto holding her back. "No." he said. "You're a medic nin. Stay back here and prepare to heal us when we're done. If you see an opportunity to get him, take it." He noticed the glare she was giving him.

Inside, Sakura was fuming. She loved that man to death, but she hated when he acted like she was weak. "Are you saying I can't handle myself?" she asked in a low voice. To her surprise, Naruto looked at her as if the thought had never crossed his mind.

"Of course not." He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I just want a crack at him before you go all out on him." And in his head, he finished 'and I couldn't stand it if you got hurt because I couldn't handle him.'

Sakura could see that very plainly in his eyes, and realized that if she got hurt, it would hurt Naruto more then it would ever hurt her. "Ok." She agreed. "Go get him." Naruto nodded, and dashed back at Sasuke.

The two exchanged rapid fire blows, and neither could gain an upper hand. Sasuke launched a sweep kick, which Naruto dodged and retaliated with a swipe from Kubikiri Houcho. Sasuke dodged to the left, and launched a jab at Naruto's face. Naruto ducked, and rabbit punched Sasuke's gut. The Uchiha went flying back. Sasuke growled. "This is getting harder. Time to end it." He made some hand seals, and gathered all his chakra to his right arm, where it became a blue electrical charge. "**Chidori! **(1000 Birds)" he screamed, and charged at Naruto.

Normally, Naruto would either dodge or retaliate with a Rasengan, and he had no time for the later. He was about to jump out of the way when he realized that Sakura was almost directly behind him. If he dodged, Sasuke would destroy her! Then a devious idea came to his mind. Naruto plunged Kubikiri Houcho into the ground, and jumped out of the way, still holding onto the handle.

Sasuke saw this, and was preparing to gut Sakura, when he felt a foot impact the back of his head. Sasuke went flying into his shield, losing the focus required for the Chidori. Then he saw what Naruto had done. 'The dobe used the sword as a pivot point, flying around it to counter me!' he thought furiously. Sasuke thought of something. There was one place Naruto would never dodge from: in front of Sakura. So the slightly insane Uchiha performed the seals again, and charged at Sakura with another Chidori.

'He's going after Sakura!' Naruto thought. 'There's no way she can dodge or counter that! I gotta do something!' Unbeknownst to any of them, the right middle whisker on Naruto's face began to glow. 'I've gotta save Sakura-chan!'

'There he goes.' Sasuke thought as Naruto dodged in front of Sakura. "So predictable!" he screamed as he rammed his Chidori through Naruto. "DIE!"

Naruto felt the attack ram through him, but felt the pain as if it were far away. The glowing whisker on his cheek burned white, then disappeared. Sasuke noticed. 'This can't be good.' He thought, and tried to get his hand out of Naruto. But his hand was stuck! In a deep voice, Naruto roared:

"**Saikou Uzumaki Kinjutsu Waza**: **Naiteki Kengan! **( Supreme Uzumaki Kinjutsu Technique: Inner Manifestation!)"

With that roar, Sasuke was thrown backwards, his hand finally becoming unstuck. But he watched in shock as Naruto went through a transformation. His skin became dark red, and his eyes took on the feral slits of Kyuubi, though they remained blue. His hands and feet grew claws, and his four remaining whisker marks expanded. There was a ripping sound, and nine tails, real tails, not made of chakra, came out of the base of his spinal column. He began exuding red chakra and blue chakra, using both his power and Kyuubis. The deep wound in his chest sealed up, hissed, and healed immediately.

In a deep voice that was both that of Naruto and that of Kyuubi, Naruto spoke. "**_Good to be out and about. Time to destroy!_**" With that ominous pronouncement, his nine tails lashed out and stabbed Sasuke through the chest. "**_DIE!_**" he screamed. As Sasuke fell, Naruto turned back to normal. He shook his head, clearing it, and Sakura ran to make sure he was ok. Once she was certain he was, they walked over to where Sasuke lay, Naruto leaning on Sakura slightly.

"Teme. Why did you let us know you were coming?" Naruto exclaimed. Sakura shook her head.

"This isn't Sasuke." She said. When Naruto looked at her questioningly, she explained. "When I broke his arm, there was no way he could heal it that quickly unless he was a medic nin."

'Sasuke' coughed up blood. "Right, Sakura. Besides, did you really think Sasuke-sama would be interested in that weakling Hyuuga? Sasuke-sama only goes for the best." With that, 'Sasuke' died. But as he died, he changed. His hair turned grey, he grew taller, and his face elongated and morphed.

Naruto looked down at the corpse. "Well, at least we got rid of Kabuto."

Sakura nodded, and looked around as the dome shield began to dissolve. When it cleared, she saw the other members of the team gathered around, the corpses of three giant snakes behind them. Kankurou was muttering about how it would take forever to fix Karasu, but the rest of them looked fine, if a little worse for wear.

As he surveyed his team, something inside Naruto's brain clicked. "We've got to get back to Konoha, right now!" he shouted.

Sakura hit him on the back of the head. "You're in no shape for another hurried trip back to Konoha. We'll ask Gaara for some guards, and he can-"

Naruto interrupted. "You don't get it! Sasuke only attacks the strongest! Knowing that, he'll be going after-"

* * *

At Konoha hospital, a new patient was admitted: Hyuuga Neji with an extremely deep bite wound to the neck. His condition was critical.

* * *

A/N: Well, bet you guys didn't see that coming! Well, now it's time to go, but I wanted to leave youwith arequest. I've got all of the Ultimate Uzumaki Techniques planned except for the Genjutsu. I'm terrible at Genjutsu ideas! I'm taking ideas with one restriction: They have something to do with fire.

Till next time!


	8. Love, Death and Insanity

A/N: Well, it's time for the next part of Three for the fox boy! Sorry the updates haven't been coming quicker, but I've had alot on my plate (and a huge case of writers block), but it's here now! Also, I've been working on Brothers in Misery Chapter Eight and Weapons of Life Chapter One. Weapons of Life should be coming soon. Check it out!

There was only one question asked last time, so I'll answer it. Someone (I forget who) asked why Neji was attacked instead of Hiashi. My reasoning is that while Hiashihas much more experience, was the strongest of the previous generation, Sasuke was looking for raw talent, which Neji has in abundence.

Oh, and thank you everyone who reviewed. I love lovely long reviews. My goal is 100 at the moment.

And finally, if you get the chance, head over to my forum and do a few posts. There's a link in my profile.

* * *

It was a dark, overcast day. As the Shinobi looked over the streets, there was not a single person out on them, the villagers not wanting to be caught in the rain. But the empty streets were made up for by the hospital, with countless people rushing around inside of it. There were many visitors, and many more personnel, and all of them were there because of one injured ninja: Hyuuga Neji.

No one really knew what happened. The Hyuuga had been out on a standard patrol mission, but he had been gone far past his expected time. His relief had gone out to look for him, and found him barely breathing in a forest, with his throat bloody and wounded. The other ninja had brought him back, and all hell had broken loose.

Immediately, more ninja had been sent after the intruder, but there had been no signs. Following that, a couple dozen Hyuuga Branch House members had gone out to do the same task. They had had no luck. Neji had been rushed to the emergency room, and Tsunade and Shizune had come quickly, knowing that Neji was a close friend of Naruto's and that he would be devastated if Neji died.

The Godaime Hokage was panting as she worked on Neji. The throat wound was easy enough to close up, but it appeared that the bite (or whatever had hurt him) had injected some kind of poison. Neji's skin was discolored, and blood was seeping out of a few pores. Shizune performed a scanning jutsu, and gasped at the results. When Tsunade looked at her questioningly, her apprentice said "The poison is much worse then we thought! As it travels throughout his body, it's closing off his tenketsu's permanently! He's already lost forty-eight of them! It seems that if all Sixty-Four close, then the poison will destroy the rest of the circulatory system, killing him."

Tsunade gasped. This was the most insidious poison she'd ever had to deal with! But she redoubled her efforts at stopping it, knowing that her adopted son would be crushed if Neji died.

Konoha was in that state when Naruto's team returned. Naruto had collapsed due to chakra depletion. He had insisted that they all return to the cart after a short rest, then had used level two Rasengans to blast their way across the dessert. He hadn't stopped until Temari, Kin and Sakura had restrained him, allowing Kakashi and Kankurou to resume their previous arrangement of Kuchyose and Chakra strings.

Naruto had collapsed shortly after leaving the cart. Apparently, he had used more chakra then he had let on, and was suffering from depletion. Muttering about stubborn boys and people not knowing their limits, Temari dragged him to the hospital, where they discovered the hectic and tension charged atmosphere there. He had quickly been placed in an empty room, while complaining about how much he hated hospitals, and had recovered quickly. Unfortunately, no one was around to discharge him, so Naruto was stuck in the room yelling that he demanded to know how Neji was doing.

* * *

In Naruto's hospital room, it was a strange echo of how it was the last time he was there. Naruto was in the bed, with Sakura, Kin and Temari all sitting around him. Only this time, no one was asleep, and Naruto was in one of the worst frames of mind he'd ever been in. 'Of course it was a diversion. How could I fall for such a stupid, obvious trap!'

'**_Because it made sense at the time._**'

'Stop listening to my thoughts, Kyuubi. I'm really not in the mood.'

Kyuubi paused. When ever Naruto called him Kyuubi and not Kyu, Fuzzball, or Pain-in-my-ass, that meant that Naruto was seriously pissed and depressed. Making up his mind not to get in the way, he curled up in his cage, hoping Naruto pulled out of his funk soon.

The same thoughts were echoed in the mind of the three girls watching Naruto. 'He's blaming himself.' Sakura thought. 'He had no way of knowing anything that happened. He did the best he could with the information he had available.'

'Wow. I didn't think it was possible for Naruto to even get sad.' Kin thought. 'But, I suppose it has to happen sometimes.'

As Temari sat there, watching Naruto stare into space, she thought, 'Now I'm going to kill the Uchiha. Not only did he hurt me, hurt my family, hurt Naruto, and maybe kill one of Naruto's friends, but worst of all: He interrupted my date with a stupid diversion!'

All four of them (five if you count Kyuubi) were so deep in their thoughts that they didn't hear the door open. So when Tsunade stepped inside, no one noticed. She cleared her throat, and everyone jumped in surprise. Naruto was the first to say something. "How is he, Oba-chan?"

It was a mark of how tired and sad Tsunade was that she didn't bristle at Naruto's customary insult. Instead she bowed her head. "Hyuuga Neji died on the operating table three minutes ago. You are the first to know." She looked at Naruto with sad brown eyes. "I'm so sorry, Naruto." With that, Tsunade left the room, muttering about lots and lots of Sake.

It took a moment for the news to penetrate Naruto's mind. When it did, something happened that no one in Konoha had ever seen before. Uzumaki Naruto, loudest and most surprising Shinobi in Konoha, the one that had never let anything but a smile cross his face before, began to cry. It started out softly, but it slowly picked up speed and volume, until soon, Naruto was weeping hysterically.

In a flash, all three girls were on their feet, about to comfort him. But then they all saw that the others had moved, and if they all went to help him, it would seem stupid and foolish. With a sigh, Temari sat back down. She had already had her chance. Kin and Sakura looked at each other, before Kin sat back down. 'She's probably better at this kinda thing.' Kin thought. 'If I knew the guy who just died, I could have helped. But Sakura is the best choice for this.' Sakura nodded appreciatively to Kin, and then went over to help Naruto.

Naruto was still crying into his hands when he felt something warm and soft envelope him in a hug. He looked up, and saw a familiar flash of pink hair. "It's ok, Naruto." Sakura said, hugging him tightly. "Let it all out. Let it all out, Naruto-kun." Without hesitation, he grabbed her into another hug and began weeping hard into her shoulder.

Ten minutes later, Naruto was still going strong. Sakura's shirt was steadily becoming soaked, and Temari and Kin just sat there in awkward silence. Finally, Naruto stopped. "Sorry, Sakura-chan." He mumbled into her shoulder.

"Nothing to be sorry for, Naruto-kun. I've been waiting for an excuse to get this shirt cleaned anyway." Sakura said. Her weak joke was just enough to surprise a chuckle out of Naruto, who leaned back and wiped his eyes.

"Thank you." He muttered.

"It was no problem, Naruto-kun."

Something clicked in Naruto's temporarily clear mind. "Since when was I Naruto-kun?"

Sakura began to blush, and realized that she was in a very interesting position. Somehow, she found herself leaning over Naruto as he lay in bed. An extremely big blush crossed her face, and she struggled with her answers. "Since- Well, you-" she stammered.

Kin was bored of watching this scene. She wanted them to act already! The sooner Sakura made out with and went out on a date with Naruto, the sooner it would be her turn! Kin chuckled. 'Time to make something happen.' She thought as she got up. Making her way past them, as if she was leaving the room, she 'accidentally' bumped Sakura, who tumbled down onto Naruto. Due to some strange twist of fate (or the fact that Sakura had unconsciously lined herself up for it), Naruto and Sakura's lips met.

Both of them were shocked and startled at first. Sakura was realized what was happening, and silently thanked Kin. Slowly, as if she were unsure of her actions, she wrapped her arms around Naruto. Then she deepened the kiss.

Naruto was in a state of near panic. He was doing something that he had wanted to do since he had learned that girls weren't icky, but one thought was going through his mind: 'TEMARI IS GOING TO KILL ME!' He tried to look around, but Sakura wasn't letting his head go. But out of the corner of his eye, he could see Temari. But she wasn't red with anger, or about to kill him, she was sitting there. She was also nodding in approval! Taking this as a sign that she was fine with it, Naruto wrapped his arms around Sakura, and deepened the kiss even more.

After a couple of minutes, they broke the kiss, both panting heavily. "Well," Naruto said. "That was unexpected."

Now that Naruto had been brought out of his depression, and back down to more normal levels, Kin asked a question that she had wanted to know the answer to for a while. "Naruto-kun, what was that last technique you used in the fight with Kabuto? I've never seen anything like it!"

Naruto thought for a minute, then decided to answer the question. "It's an Uzumaki Kinjutsu. I've recently discovered that I have a bloodline that gives me a new technique for each branch of jutsu when I need it. There are six, and I've activate two. Each time one is activated, one of my whiskers disappears." The girls looked closely at Naruto, and saw, sure enough, that he was missing two whiskers: The upper left one, and the middle right one.

Temari asked the next question. "So, what did it do?"

"You see, everyone has an inner spirit. Some people don't know that they have it, and some are very in tune with it. What the **Naiteki Kengan **(Inner Manifestation) does is bring some traits from the inner spirit out onto the physical body, putting the main spirit and the inner spirit into complete synchronization." Naruto answered.

The three girls pondered this for a moment. Sakura was the one who asked the next question. "What's your inner spirit?"

Naruto froze. 'SHIT!' he thought.

"**_Come now, Kit. You knew they'd have to find out sometime._**"

Naruto took a deep breath. "You see, my spirit is a special case. Most of them are just, well, parts of us that aren't used. Mine was once an actual physical entity that was sealed in me at birth. You've all heard of him."

Once again, all three girls thought for a moment. Sakura's breath caught, as she was the first to realize it. 'Nine tails. Claws, fangs, and whiskers. Red skin. The nine tailed fox.' She thought. She looked up at Naruto. "Is it… the nine tailed fox?"

Naruto's sad smile confirmed her guess. "He prefers Kyuubi no Kitsune."

All three of the girls thought for a moment. Unconsciously, Sakura backed away. When she saw the hurt and sadness in Naruto's eyes, she realized what she was doing. With a lightning quick movement, Sakura slapped herself. Then she moved back to Naruto, and rested her head on his chest. "I don't care." She whispered.

Temari was the next to react. She calmly walked over to Naruto. In a sweet voice, she asked "Why didn't you tell us before?"

Naruto mumbled, "I didn't want to loose you."

Temari nodded for a moment, then picked up her fan and smashed Naruto on the head with it. "BAKA!" she yelled. Then, in a calmer voice, she said, "Naruto-kun, my brother has a demon in him, just like you. I still love and respect him, and he was a homicidal psycho for a couple years. What makes you think I'd have a problem dating another vessel?"

A stupid look settled on Naruto's face. 'DUH!' he thought.

Kin was thinking. 'So he has a demon inside of him. I don't see any problem with that. Actually, it sounds kinda kinky.' With that thought, she walked over to Naruto. 'Fuck the rules.' She thought, and planted a deep, soft kiss on Naruto's lips.

When she backed away, Naruto stared at her wide-eyed. 'I haven't had a girlfriend in my life, but in the past two days, three girls have kissed me!'

"**_Duh, kit. Even I could tell that they wanted to._**"

All three of the girls sat back down in their chairs. "Well," Temari started. "You've told us a secret. Now it's time for us to tell you one." She inhaled deeply. "I love you." Naruto looked at her in shock.

"I love you." Sakura said. Naruto's mouth was now hanging open.

"I love you." Kin stated. Now small gurgling sounds were heard coming out of Naruto's mouth.

After a moment, Naruto became aware of his situation. He closed his mouth, and then, with viable effort, got his eyes out of the shocked position. He loved all three of these girls, all of them with all his heart. But he had never expected them to return his feelings, or even notice he existed. The first words that came out of his mouth after his shock were, "I love you all, but how the hell am I supposed to choose between the three of you!"

Temari released a breath she hadn't even know she was holding. After that, she calmly explained the deal the three girls had made. After she was finished, Naruto sat there, speechless once again.

But inside his mind, Naruto was anything but speechless. Naruto and Kyuubi had joined hands and were dancing in a circle singing 'GO ME! GO ME! GO ME!'

After five minutes, the girls were beginning to get worried by Naruto's catatonic state. Kin waved a hand in front of Naruto's face. "Konoha to Naruto! Come in, Naruto!" Naruto snapped out of it. He calmly got out of bed, and turned to the window.

'This has been both the best and the worst day of my life.' He thought.

* * *

On the other hand, it was definitely one of the worst days of Uchiha Sasuke's life. He sat in a dark cave, yelling a something. "GET AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"_Ku Ku Ku. But Sasuke-kun, this is what you've always wanted!_"

"GET AWAY SNAKE! YOU'RE DEAD!"

"_But I live inside you, Sasuke-kun._"

"I'M ALIVE, AND YOU'RE DEAD!"

A different voice spoke up. "_Where am I? Zabuza-sama? ZABUZA-SAMA!_"

"Oh, no. There's another one of you!"

A third voice spoke. "_How far you have fallen, Uchiha. You might be able to kill me, and become a parasite on the world, but you will not escape your fate._"

Sasuke was now curled up into a ball. "Why won't you leave me alone?" he whimpered.

All three voices, Orochimaru, Haku, and Neji, chorused in unison. "_You've gotten power, but at what price, Uchiha Sasuke._" With that, Sasuke's persona was pushed into the back of his mind, where it usually was. His mouth spoke words that weren't his own.

"Ku Ku Ku. Now where is Kimimaro-kun?"

* * *

A/N: OOH! Cliffhanger! R&R! 


	9. Interlude with Insanity

A/N: Well, sorry about the really short chapter. I have a mild case of Threefor the Fox Boy writers block, so I wrote a short interlude that developes crazy Sasuke more. Have no fear, I promise that full length chapters will be back by next week!

* * *

Hearing voices was a strange thing.

Uchiha Sasuke had never believed people when they said that they heard voices. He had always thought that they were just making it up to gain attention. He had never believed that there were actual voices in people's head.

He believed now. By Kami, he believed.

There were a few voices in his head. Firstly, there was Orochimaru. He hadn't been aware of the voice for a while, but it was there. It had been controlling his actions, dominating his mind, directing his thoughts, driving him to be as greedy and power hungry as the snake sennin himself.

Then there was Haku. The voice of the effeminate boy was silent at most times, though randomly cried out for Zabuza. When he spoke and it wasn't about Zabuza, he spoke about love, trust, and those precious to you. That voice had cried when Sasuke sent Kabuto to his doom, and wept when he attacked Hyuuga Neji.

The third voice was Neji himself. This voice spoke frequently about fate, and the inevitable chains that came with it. But biting Neji had done more then give Sasuke his bloodline and his voice. Now a weaker version of the Hyuuga caged bird seal was on the base of his neck, and frequently warred with his cursed seal.

Next, there was the voice of Kimimaro. This was a very rare thing, because the voice of Kimimaro actually seemed to interact with the voice of Orochimaru, aiding him in his psychological attacks on the Uchiha prodigy. He preached the values of loyalty and giving your all for one person.

Finally, there was the voice of Uchiha Sasuke himself, the pure version from before Orochimaru inflicted him with the curse seal. He cried most of the time in the back of his head, wondering how he could do such things to Naruto, to Sakura, to Kakashi. This voice almost never spoke, except for sobs and unintelligible wails.

This was the mind of Uchiha Sasuke. But he was rarely in control of it.

* * *


	10. Sticks and Stones

A/N: Well, it's time for another chapter of Three for the Fox Boy! Sorry about the interlude last chapter, I wrote it to get through some writers block. And it worked! And no, I didn't write Chapter Nine as a filler. I let you know that Sasuke has gone off the deep end, and that he's absorbed Kimimaro.

Just so you all know, Three for the Fox Boy is almost done. I have, at most, three chapters left, and an epilouge.

Oh, and a cookie if you can guess where I stole the Kenjutsu technique from.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or the place I stole the Kenjutsu technique from.

* * *

One week after the death of Hyuuga Neji, Naruto was still alternation between depression and joy. Neji had been a very close friend, and losing him hurt a lot. But on the other hand, three women, three beautiful women, had declared their love for him, and that was enough to cheer anyone up. 

Even though Temari, Kin, and Sakura were doing their best to keep him happy, he was shifting more towards depression at the moment. That was because Shikamaru, Kakashi and Kankurou had gone along the path of the failed Sasuke retrieval mission, until they came to field filled with sand. That was where Gaara and Lee had defeated Kimimaro. A large tunnel and a dismembered corpse had told them that they were too late.

Sakura sighed as she looked at Naruto. She had stopped by to visit him at his apartment to try to end his current bout of sadness. She had been able to notice his frequent mood wings, all three of them had. The only consolation she had about his mood swings was that they shifted to the positive whenever he looked at her. Sakura walked up to him as he stared out the window, and began to rub his shoulders. He stiffened for a moment, then relaxed and began to groan in appreciation.

"Naruto-kun, why are you so sad?" She asked while she rubbed his back.

In between grunts, Naruto answered "Didn't stop teme. Didn't stop him from getting even one bloodline."

Sakura kept rubbing. "You're not angry about Neji?"

"Of course I am. And I'll kill teme for killing him if I get the chance. But seeking out the bastard for revenge will make me the exact same as he is."

Sakura thought about that, and the great difference that symbolized between the only two men she had ever loved. Sasuke had pursued vengeance with every breath he took, and it had turned him into an inhuman monster. On the other hand, Naruto had just as much reason, if not more, to seek revenge, and he was already considered by most to be a monster. But he had never once tried to get payback. Sure, he'd take it if the chance came up to him, but he had never gone out of his way just for revenge. Sakura grinned as she thought of that.

'And that's one of the many reasons that I love you.' She thought, and kissed the back of his neck. She grinned when she felt him shiver.

That was another reason she loved him. Even though he had acknowledged that he loved them all, and that they loved him in return, and that they had formed a strange deal regarding him, he refused to let their physical relationships go beyond very heated make-out sessions. Once, when Kin asked why, he said "I don't want to ruin our friendship incase you change your mind." The only other man Sakura had ever loved would have taken the opportunity without hesitation, and would have done his best to impregnate all three of them to 'restart the clan'.

The two sat there in relative silence, Naruto staring out the window, and Sakura continuing her massage. Every once in a while, the silence was broken by a yell from outside, or a grunt of approval from Naruto when Sakura got a particularly sensitive spot. After a while, the door opened, and Temari walked in. Sakura stopped rubbing and went to greet her. In a low voice, she asked, "Where's Kin? I thought all three of us were going to meet here."

"Kin had to report back to the Otokage, so we'll just have to try to cheer Naruto-kun up with just the two of us. He needs it." Temari whispered back. Then, in a normal voice, she said, "Hi, Naruto-kun! Feeling any better?"

Naruto got up and stretched. "I'm ok, Temari-chan." He walked over and kissed them both. "Where's Kin-chan?" he asked in confusion. Usually, he only saw one of them at a time, or all three of them. Never just two.

"She had to head back to sound for a little bit." Temari answered, then asked "Naruto-kun, we have a little free time. Care to escort two beautiful girls around?" Naruto tried to muster up his foxy grin, but failed, and settled for a small smile.

* * *

An hour later, the three of them were wandering through Konoha Park. They had tried to walk through the village itself, but Temari and Sakura had found it difficult to deal with glares the villagers were giving Naruto. That, and they had had a hard time calming Naruto down and keeping him from going berserk after he heard a villager making rude remarks about 'the demon's sluts'.

Temari, as always, was entranced by Konoha gardens. There just weren't that many plants in Suna. There was rare dessert rose, and a lot of cactus, and that was extent of the botanical wonders of Suna. But here, there were Sakura blossoms, roses cultivated carefully in the ground, Daisies at the tree bases, tulips around some bushes. It was everything Suna wasn't.

Temari felt an arm go around her shoulder, and looked over to see Naruto holding her. "Beautiful." He said. She nodded, looking at the many colors. Naruto chuckled. "I wasn't talking about the flowers." Temari felt a blush spread over her cheeks.

Sakura chuckled at the cheesy line, and the effect it had on Temari. But surprisingly, she wasn't jealous. In the past week, she had spent a lot of time with Kin and Temari, and gotten to know them. Sakura understood what it would be like to without Naruto when you loved him so much that it hurt, and she wouldn't let either of the two girls, who were now good friends of hers, go through that hell.

But just because Sakura wasn't jealous didn't mean she was willing to be ignored. She walked over to the two and leaned in against Naruto's other side. Reflexively, his other arm came up and wrapped around her shoulders. But instead of being hurt that he was paying more attention to Temari then to her, Sakura was overjoyed. 'He loves me so much that holding me is a reflex to him!' She thought.

Inner Sakura was also thrilled. "SEE! Even if we have to share him, he's still the best boyfriend ever! Hell Yeah!"

If paradise existed, Naruto was sure he was in it. 'I know everyone else might hate me, but here, there are only people that love me.' He looked to both sides, and saw a beautiful woman on each side, both snuggling into him. Naruto felt a great contentment spread through him as Sakura let out a little squeak of happiness.

He looked around at the sights of the park, and drank them in. The vibrant colors, the exotic smells, the sounds of... someone sneaking up behind them! "DOWN!" Naruto yelled, and pulled the girls to the ground as he dropped down himself. Not a moment too soon, as a wizzing sound followed by three loud thunks announced that three kunai had just passed through the area their heads had been in, and were now quivering in a tree.

"Damn." An unfamiliar voice said. "We might as well come out and face you openly." Seven men dropped out of the trees, all dressed in identical outfirs that announced them as Jounin. Their headbands proclaimed that they were from Iwakagure, the village hidden in the rocks.

"Why did you try and kill us?" Sakura asked.

"We have been hired to assassinate Uzumaki Naruto and kidnap Sabaku no Temari." The seeming leader of the band announced. "You can leave, pinky."

Instead of running away as the Iwa ninjas expected, Sakura crouched down into a fighting stance and powered up her chakra scalpels. "No one touches Naruto-kun or Temari-chan!"

Behind her, Temari was cursing fluently. 'Out of all days, why did I leave my fan behind today!' She thought.

Naruto reached behind him and unlatched Kubikiri Houcho from it's sheath. "Temari-chan, stay back and use throwing weapons. Sakura-chan, defend her. These guys are mine!" With a quick shimmer, Naruto faded from view. A gushing sound and a scream announced that he had stopped moving, and that one stone ninja would no longer be a problem.

As Sakura and Temari watched, with mouths slowly opening, all of the stone nins and Naruto began moving so fast that they were invisible to the naked eye. Every few seconds, Naruto would reappear, usually blocking strike from a stone nin with Kubikiri Houcho. Suddenly, something else popped into view: a headless stone nin corpse, it's head lying five feet away.

Temari drew a kunai, preparing to defend herself. Sooner or later, the enemy would remember that the two of them were standing there, and attempt to get them while Naruto was occupied. Sure enough, one of the remaining five nins faded into view as he slowed down, then charged at the two of them.

Sakura punched the ground, causing a small crevice to appear. The stone nin tripped on it, and began to fall. He was dead when he hit the ground, killed by a well-aimed kunai from thrown by Temari.

Two more Iwa Nins disengaged from combat and charged at the girls. Sakura tried the same thing that worked on the last one, but these two jumped the initial crevice and went to engage the girls in close combat. Sakura charged in and fought one, while Temari tried to fend of f the other one.

'Shit!' Temari thought. 'I hate close combat! I HATE IT!'

Naruto was getting tired. He had killed three stone nins, all moving at extreme speeds. He was now facing one, and the others had gone to fight the girls. A lance of panic stabbed through Naruto's heart. Sakura could take care of herself, but Temari didn't have her fan! Without her fan, Temari really couldn't do much. He had to finish this fight quickly!

He drew back Kubikiri and infused it with a fraction of his chakra. Naurto swung, and a blue crescent arc flew out of his blade, dissecting the final ninja facing him.

Naruto spun around, and saw that the girls were in a dire predicament. He turned just in time to see one ninja knock Sakura out with a knife-edge chop to the back of the neck. The Stone ninja leered at her unconscious form. "You're far too pretty to kill, girl. Matbe we'll meet again under more… pleasant circumstances."

Over in Temari's fight, she had lost badly. The Iwa nin had created mud and entrapped her in it. As Naruto watched, he lewdly stroked her cheek. "I would usually knock you out, but I think we'll have some fun as we go back to Iwa. I like my girls have some kick in em."

Inside Naruto, something snapped. 'Kyuubi, Chakra, now!'

The fox nodded inside of it's cage. '**No one touches our mates!**' The red chakra flooded into Naruto, fanning out behind him in an angry aura. But then Naruto began controlling it, and mixing his own chakra with it. As the two horrified stone ninja and a half conscious Temari watched, the chakra aura slowly turned purple.

Unnoticed by anyone, Naruto's right-middle whisker burned white, then disappeared. Naruto began channeling his purple chakra into Kubikiri Houcho, his aura diminishing and the blade glowing purple. He dropped it, and it sank into the ground as if it was dropped in water, leaving a couple of ripple behind.

"**_Saiko Uzumaki Kenjutsu Waza: Tusrugi Sajiki! _**(Supreme Uzumaki Kenjutsu Technique: Sword Gallery)" He said. The area surrounding them turned black, and a purple light shone down from above. The two terrified stone ninja looked up, and saw a purple Kubikiri hovering in midair. As they watched, the blade multiplied and circled them in rows. The end result was Naruto, Sakura, Temari, and two stone ninjas being surrounded by hundreds upon hundreds of purple glowing swords.

Naruto stared at the first target of his rage, the one who had knocked out Sakura. "You die now." He said in a calm voice. He made a sweeping gesture with his right arm, and no fewer then twenty glowing swords flew at the ninja. The result was a very dead Iwa Nin.

Naruto looked over at the other one, who was now visibly trembling. Naruto gave a sadistic smile at him, and the ninja felt something warm trickling down his leg as he lost control of his bladder. Naruto shook his head. "Now that won't do. You'll die of embarrassment. Or me. Yeah, you'll definitely die of me." He held up both hands, and a Kubikiri flew into each one of them. The blades began glowing red as Naruto infused them with parts of Kyuubi's chakra. "You die now." He swung the blade, sending out the red crescent arcs which destroyed the remaining enemy.

With the one holding the jutsu dead, the mud around Temari dissolved. She instantly rushed at Naruto and grabbed him before he fell over. Naruto managed to hold one hand out and snap his fingers, canceling the jutsus. The area turned back to normal, and all of the swords united and turned back into regular Kubikiri Houcho, which landed at Naruto's side.

Panting, Naruto asked, "You ok?" Temari nodded. Then a pensive look crossed Naruto's face. "Why were they trying to kidnap you?"

* * *

In his mobile fortress, Sasuke banged his hands on the desk. He began to yell orders at his nearest subordinate. "All of the Stone Ninjas we hired to kidnap the Suna girl died! Dispatch a unit to go to cloud and hire a team to kidnap Sakura! Then, send another unit to Mist and hire a team to go after the sound bitch!"

Sasuke leaned back in his throne-like chair. 'Ku Ku Ku. Naruto, before I kill you, I'm going to make you die on the inside.'


	11. Strange, Strange, Kidnappers

A/N: Well, as I've said, we're coming to the close of Three for the Fox Boy. It has very few chapters left, and everything is coming to a head.

The next couple chapters will take a while to write. They have the most intense battle scenes, and difficult situations to write. This chapterhas a battle scene in it, just not a big one. The other reason this is going to take a while to write is because I have to finish chapter three of Weapons of Life, Chapter twelve of Brothers inMisery, and Chapter Three of All for One (which has gained the most reviews and second most favorites and alerts, and the third most C2s out of all of my stories, and it's only been around since tuesday!)

On a good note, I'm out of school for the summer, so I have more time to write (YAY SUMMER!)

And finally, before the actual story, the cookie goes to FreedomElf, who correctly figured out that Naruto's Blade Gallery is just like Kuchiki Byakuya's Bankai from Bleach.

Oh, and just a warning. The last part of the chapter is... funny (well, at least I thought so). As in, it's sorta amusing. I like writing humor, ok!

* * *

Twenty minutes after the attack by stone ninja, Naruto was pacing back and forth in the living room of his apartment. 'Why would they want to kidnap Temari-chan?' he thought. 'The logical reason is that she's the princess of Suna, but something about that just doesn't seem right! But what other reason is there!'

'Lemme see…' Naruto thought, still pacing. 'Temari-chan has kicked a lot of asses, maybe this is just some dude who got his pride stomped on who wants payback. Nah, that doesn't fit. The guy would come in for her himself. Hmm… I can't really think of any other reason why they would want Temari-chan, unless they were trying to hurt someone by taking her.'

'But if that's the case, who were they trying to hurt? If it was Gaara, they just would have taken Kankurou. He's much worse protected then Temari-chan. Who else is she close to? Well, the only other person I can think of is… me. Aw, shit! Why the hell is the bastard going after the woman I love!' Naruto started rubbing his temples. 'Wait a sec… woman I love. There's more then one of those. And if I were teme, thank Kami I'm not, I'd go after the others soon! I've got to get Temari-chan and Sakura-chan, and possibly the entire team together, then we gotta go after Kin-chan! Who knows what could have happened to her!' With that panicking thought, Naruto sent out a chakra pulse.

Almost instantly, in his mind, the chakra signatures of everyone within his range came into view. Ero-sennin had taught him the 'chakra sonar' during his training trip, and it had come in handy more then he ever could have guessed. Naruto scanned the results, and found Sakura. 'She's walking down the street with Kakashi-sensei. At least she'll be safe with him while I get there.' Not wasting anytime, he bounded out the window, honing in on Sakura.

* * *

At that moment, the kunoichi herself was sneezing a lot. 'Damn, someone's thinking about me a lot!' she thought. Then she turned her eyes back on Kakashi-sensei, who was, as usual, buried in his perverted book. "Honestly Kakashi-sensei, how can you stand to read those things in public? I mean, there're children right over there!"

"It's fun." Kakashi said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Then, to head off the beating he knew was coming, said, "So you and Naruto, eh? Can't say I ever saw that one coming."

Sakura lowered her fists, and said, "Yeah, a couple years back, if someone had suggested it to me, I'd have laughed in their face. But I can't imagine why now. I mean, he's smart, caring, honest, loyal, handsome, funny…" Kakashi tuned her out as she went into one of her 'Reasons why Naruto is great' lists. Then he noticed something strange. They were the only ones on the street.

Kakashi extended one arm out to the side, effectively stopping Sakura from walking and shutting her up. She looked at him questioningly, but then looked around herself. She got it instantly. There was danger nearby. That fact was driven home by seeing Kakashi calmly close up Icha Icha Paradise, put it in his belt pouch, and move up his head protector to reveal his lone Sharingan eye.

Seeing that they were discovered, a small group of Ninja emerged from a nearby alleyway. Their headbands signified that they were from Cloud. Kakashi shook his head. "Cloud nins on our streets. Security is sure getting lax around here. So, who hired you and what do you want?"

The one wearing a completely black jumpsuit with a full mask, who seemed to be the leader, walked a step in front of the others. "We have been paid a substantial amount to kidnap Haruno Sakura. We were originally going to just take her when no one else was around, but I've always wanted to fight Copy Ninja Kakashi."

Kakashi grinned under his own mask. "Well, today's your lucky day!" He said, before assuming a fighting crouch. "I require your word that your men will not interfere, or do anything like kidnap my student, while we fight."

The cloud nin cocked his head to one side, thinking. "Acceptable." He made a gesture to his companions, and they relaxed, ready to watch their leader's sport. The leader cracked his neck. "I am Hayai Takai, and it will be a pleasure to kill you." He ran forward at Kakashi, who met his charge with his own.

Rapid fire blows were exchanged, and the two skidded backwards. Kakashi drew a kunai, while Takai pulled out a katana. The two blades met, causing sparks to fly everywhere. Seeing that the blade fight was no use, with the katana's longer reach, Kakashi threw his kunai, then followed it with five shuriken.

Takai grinned. "Is that the best you have?" He dodged the kunai, but stood right in front of the shuriken. His hand moved in gestures too fast too be seen, but when his hand stopped moving, each finger had a shuriken spinning on it. "I, on the other hand, can do much better!" Suddenly, the shuriken began to crackle with electricity, and Takai threw them at Kakashi.

Hurridly, Kakashi moved through the hand seals for Kawarimi. The electrified shuriken connected with a log, and Kakashi wound up on a nearby rooftop. "**_Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu! _**(Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique)" he yelled, his hands flashing through the appropriate seals. A stream of fire blew at Takai, who grinned as his hands flew through other seals.

"**_Suiton: Sujinheki! _**(Water Style: Water Encampment Wall)" he yelled, and a wall of water rose around him, creating steam when the fire impacted. "Better, Copy Nin!" He yelled. As the Sujinheki dissipated, he felt a presence behind him. "Much better."

Kakashi launched a pair of kunai, and they connected solidly with Takai's shoulders, rendering the arms useless. He was about to launch another one, this one aimed at the heart, when he realized it would be best to take this guy alive. And he suddenly sensed Naruto's chakra signature on a nearby rooftop.

A smirk appeared under Kakashi's mask. He had the perfect move to disable the guy, rendering him unconscious. It would also be priceless to see the look on Naruto's face after he pulled this one off.

"You know, Takai, you've me copy ninja multiple times throughout this fight. I think it's time I showed you why." Kakashi went into a hand seal. "**_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! _**(Shadow Clone Technique)" He yelled, and four more Kakashis appeared next to him. "Let's roll!" They all yelled.

The five all charged forward, the original slightly behind the others. The first clone charged in with a cry of "U!", then decked Takai with a powerful punch, causing him to stagger backwards. The original used the first clone to springboard into the air while spinning rapidly. The second, third and fourth clones all came sliding in toward the staggering cloud nin. "ZU!" "MA!" "KI!" The clones shouted as the kicked Takai into the air.

Takai noticed he was in the air, then felt a shadow over him. He looked up just in time to see Kakashi deliver a painful downwards kick. Takai crashed into the ground, then as he went unconscious, heard Kakashi finish the technique's name. "NARUTO RENDAN!"

From the rooftop, Naruto's jaw dropped. 'That was my rendan!' his mind screamed. 'I worked hard for- well, about twenty minutes, developing that technique! And he just copies it!' Naruto sighed. 'Well, he is the copy nin. But he could have at least asked!'

Kakashi looked up at Naruto, then grinned apologetically. Naruto started fuming. 'The prick knew I was here! That's why he used my rendan, just to piss me off! AND IT WORKED!' In a flash Naruto was down on the ground, shaking Kakashi by the front of his shirt. "THAT WAS MY RENDAN! IT HAS MY DAMN NAME IN IT! AT LEAST ASK IF YOU'RE GOING TO COPY SOMETHING OF MINE!"

Kakashi smiled. 'Heh. Knew it would piss him off.' After a minute of Naruto shaking him, Kakashi was beginning to get sick, and decided it would be best to appease him. "What can I say? If one of my students comes up with such a good move, I've got to copy it!"

Naruto stopped shaking him. 'Awww. I can't kill him now! He complemented my jutsu!'

From off to the side, the remaining cloud ninja had giant drops of sweat beading on their head. "Uh, excuse me?" One of them said.

Kakashi and Naruto both looked at him. "WHAT!" they yelled.

"Uh, we're here to kidnap Haruno Sakura, and uh, you guys fighting, as funny as it might be, is not getting us any closer to doing that."

Naruto looked at Kakashi. "We'll talk about this later." He growled out, then turned to the cloud nin. "I SO DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" he screamed.

"Well, you can go then." The cloud nin said. "Hold on a sec while I check my list." He pulled a scroll out from the inside of his Jounin vest, and unrolled it. "Pick up dry cleaning? Check. Walk the dogs? Check. Practice evil cackling in mirror? Check. Kidnap Haruno Sakura? Almost there. Kill Uzumaki Naruto? Uncheck." He looked over at Naruto. "Uh, would you know where we could find an Uzumaki Naruto?"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, you twit!" Naruto growled, still pissed about Kakashi stealing his rendan.

"Oh, well next time you see you, can you tell you we're going to kill you?" he said, in a very confusing manner.

"Uh, ok." Naruto said.

"Good!" The cloud ninja said, then rolled his scroll back up and put it away. "Now, where were we."

A vein in Naruto's head was pulsing. "I'm going to kill you fast, so I can go beat the crap out of Kakashi-sensei!" In his anger, annoyance, and suppressed panic about Kin, Naruto barely felt it as his left middle whisker burned white. But he did notice the results. "Cool. This is perfect for my new technique!" Naruto went off into hand seals, then slammed both palms into the ground. "**_Saiko Uzumaki Ninjutsu Waza: Kitsune Kagai! _**(Supreme Uzumaki Ninjutsu Technique: Fox Assault)"

In answer to his technique, the ground began to rumble. A red-furred paw broke out of the ground, and a bright red, wolf-sized fox broke out of the ground. It was soon followed by more, some of every color. All looked at the cloud nins and licked their lips simultaneously. Then they looked at Naruto, as if asking permission.

Naruto shrugged. "Go wild."

What followed was ripping and tearing noises, some screams, and the sound of blood spattering as the foxes systematically killed the cloud nins, then ate them. Sakura was slowly turning green, Kakashi had taken Icha Icha Paradise back out, and Naruto was watching with an open mouth. "Wow! Don't you guys ever need to breathe?" He asked.

* * *

In his mobile fortress, Sasuke watched the scene unfold through a powerful technique. "Why the hell are cloud ninja such idiots?" He asked himself. "Well, at least it wasn't a total loss." He looked over at the struggling prisoner. "Eh, Kin-chan?"

* * *

A/N: OOOOHHH! Intrigue! That was Chapter 11, which also contained my first attempt at humor! Tell me what you think! 


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